I said I'd start a new thread since the league is fast approaching and some of us have seen how they have faired in the O'Byrne cup.
there is players to come back.Who?I'm not sure
31.01.2016 (Sun) O'Moore Park, Portlaoise 14:00 Laois v Gaillimh
06.02.2016 (Sat) Athletic Grounds, Armagh 19:00 Ard Mhacha v Laois
27.02.2016 (Sat) O'Moore Park, Portlaoise 14:00 Laois v Tír Eoghain
06.03.2016 (Sun) Brewster Park, Enniskillen 14:00 Fear Manach v Laois
13.03.2016 (Sun)O'Moore Park, Portlaoise 14:00 Laois v Doire
27.03.2016 (Sun) [Easter Sunday] Kingspan Breffni Park, Cavan 14:00 An Cabhán v Laois
03.04.2016 (Sun) O'Moore Park, Portlaoise 14:00 Laois v An Mhí
Quick sum up of the O'Byrne cup performances from what I seen over the three games and then a low down on the way the squad is shaping up for the coming year!
.I don't mean to be critical of any player in anyway I know the commitment these guys have given and I'm grateful as I love my county in both codes and go to every corner of Ireland to follow them!
Brody:Great young keeper with a big future no worries on this front but needs more competition to keep him on his toes.Kicks outs were superb in all three games.
Cotter:Not a corner back in a million years(in my opinion) fouls too much in that position learning at this level as he goes along and a welcome addition to the squad.Big strong lad who will learn quickly.
Collins:Same as Cotter altough more natural when it comes to defending good speed will only get better.
Timmons:Solid and reliable in what I seen of him so far has a great understanding with Brody as well which is important.
Seale:Impressed with him against Meath will push for a corner back spot and why not on his club form this year.
A.Farrell:One of the plus points of the three matches I was impressed very composed and good footballing brain(one to watch)
Strong:Not really suited to center back(could say the same about half back) too loose but in Saying that his distribution from the center was a joy to watch also adds a bit of power to the position maybe he can mold himself into a Brian Cullen???
Dillion:Lillis might be on to something here converting him to a half back as he isn't clinical enough in the forwards he has great pace and lets the ball go early which is pleasing he does however need to improve his tackling like so many on the Laois squad both forwards and backs!
Connolly:Looked a little bit at Sea against U.C.D and didn't get much more game time after that but can improve and has the pedigree going on his form for the Heath this year.
J.Farrell:Another option for midfield under performed against Meath but was decent in the other two games.
Meaney:We all know what you get from Kevin .A joy to have him back should start in the middle in my opinion.
O'Loughlin:Not match fit yet after coming back late and that was obivious showed moments of class and we know come the league he will be one of the big players.Must cut out this latest habit of back chatting to ref's
O'Reilly:Was poor against Carlow in the middle but overall did himself no harm athletic young man with bags of abilty and not afraid to mix it.
N.Murphy:Has not shone like I thought he would but give him time to adjust the 3 games will certainly bring him on.
Kingston:Quality pure quality would get on any county team in the land his passing from the center forward role is a thing of beauty.Also chipped in with a lot of scores.
Scully:Again like Murphy didn't set the world alight but is a hard working forward who can tackle which we don't have many of should improve going forward confident young man who can make an impact I feel.
Costello:I believe this guy has the quality to really make an impact on this team so mcuh intelligence and while things didn't always come off for him Especially against Carlow he doesn't stop trying them makes great runs off the ball.
Cahillane:Wow great to have him back in the blue and white him and Donie have struck up a great relationship already glad to see he has got over his disappointment for his club and is back showing us his skilll for the county.
S.Murphy didn't really see enough to comment on the chap but has loads to offer going on his club form in 2015.
Lillis:Same as above but great to have him back in the set up a physical presence who can cover a range of positions in the back line has experience and know how and won't lack commitment to the squad.
Walsh:Great also to see him back showed against Carlow why he should make our forward line in 2016 he was well marshaled by Keogan in Meath but who isn't .Real powerhouse and he can kick a point.
Damien O'Connor:Was particularly poor against Meath when he came on and has yet to shine but looks hungry I still think he is a better back than forward even though the new management think different.
Ruairi O'Connor:Closest thing to a Donie Brennan I've seen in a while and that's a compliment seems to have bags of skill and can kick a point certainly one to keep an eye on.
Mcdonald:Sub goalie only got few minutes against Carlow but looked assured.
Don't think I'm missing anyone that got game time I know Sean Moore was in but never featured.
Mick Lillis says there is six to come back.
Munnelly and Begley back this week.
Lads playing with their colleges are Eoin Kehoe,Paul Kingston,Stephen Attride,Eoin Lowry,Tom shield,Will Young,Ciaran Booth,Evan O'Carroll
But I don't know how many of them are included in the set up
Donoher is injured and Quigley is on an extended break after getting married recently.
Two lads who have said they can't commit are
Connor Boyle as his job in Dublin means he can't make the commitment which is a pity as he was decent last year added know how to the forward line and was an out ball for the backs other than Donie.
James Finn also it seems can't get the time to commit as he is in Dublin another pity as I think it could have been a big year for him after being such a physical stand out in the senior championship when I seen him this year.
Ones i'm not sure of or if the door is closed are
Robbie Kehoe?
Conor Meridith
Mj Tierney Still only 28
Craig Rodgers??
Stephen O'Leary
David Conway
Eoin Culleton
Niall Mullins
Matthew Campion?abroad?
Lads not available but could still offer a lot
Healy-Hurling
Smith-working in England(pity as he was a stand out this year for Portlaoise)
Peter O'Leary-retired
Pauric McMahon-retired
Paul Begley(retired)
John Dunphy(retired)
Sorry to be bringing up players not available for selection but it just goes to show the wealth of talent that is still kicking football in Laois despite all the doom and gloom.
Mick Lillis still has a good bunch of players to work with and with a few more to come on board it should bolster the squad up nicely.
I hope like other counties do he keeps the door open all year cause there is some talent there that might prove useful yet.
I for one am looking forward to the league campaign!
Didn't manage to get to any of these games so it's great to get the feedback Unlaoised.
Good to see some of the younger lads making a good impression. If Tierney's still only 28, it would certainly be good to see him back - always thought he just needed a little more time and patience. Class player on his day.
What happened Gearoid Hanrahan? Thought he had a bit about him last year.
Great feedback, UnLaoised Really looking forward to the start of the league
Big game on the 31 Jan To beat galway would be a great start
Tierney AFAIK is 30 or 31 in 2016
Quote from: Keyser Söze on January 12, 2016, 07:26:37 PM
Tierney AFAIK is 30 or 31 in 2016
Even at 30 he'd have loads to offer if he really wanted it
John Dunphy is sub goalie for Arles/Kileen..... Hardly retired he must be 25?
MJ Teirney is 29. probably 30 sometime this year.
Great report Unlaoised, panel look's stronger than the last few years.
Very tough division 2 this year if we can stay up it will be some result.
Tierney,Healy,Timmons,Begley and Quigley all 30 this year ( last heat u21 in 07 )
Numbers does not mean strength. There's a lack of quality and we will struggle to stay up.
Never said good numbers does mean strength but there is enough quality to work with there to stay in this division in my opinion!
Thanks for that Unlaoised, great bit of reading and keeps lads updated on what's happening with the panel.
I don't really agree on the comment about lack of quality on the squad, most of those guys would be welcomed on any football panel in the country.
The league will tell us a lot more about the strength of the squad and even though its a tough division I think we are well equipped to stay up.
By the way, MJ was born in 1986 according to Wikipedia..
QuotePersonal information
Irish name
Micheál Seán Ó Tiarnaigh
Sport
Gaelic Football
Position
Corner Forward
Born
1986
County Laois, Ireland
Height
1.79 m (5 ft 10 in)
Nickname
MJ
the only way mj would stand 5ft 10 would be in 4 inch high heel shoes....shows the unreliability of that wiki lark
Quote from: oneflewoverthecuckoonest on January 14, 2016, 02:01:28 AM
the only way mj would stand 5ft 10 would be in 4 inch high heel shoes....shows the unreliability of that wiki lark
I always think that when I read programme 's etc if they ain't tall they are 5-10(even though they could be anything from 5-5 to 5-10) If they are average IE(from 5-9 to 5-11)they put themselves in as 6-0.
You can nearly always take off 2-3 inches apart from the bigger lads like quigley and Clancy who are 6-4/6-5
Back to the thread as it stands...
I hear training is going better than it was at the start and the players seem to have a real bond with one another there is a lot of close friends on this panel if that will prove to be a good thing in the long run I don't know!
Great post Unlaoised. Of course it helps if lads are pals. Great atmosphere and spirit if so. Great to see a number of the portlaoise lads around. I agree - it does look like a strong squad. PS MJ is about 5ft 9 to 5ft 10. Not a short man really.
Anyword on a friendly for Laois footballers I heard there was talks of one next weekend against Tipperary but not certain
Should we beat Wicklow in the Leinster - does anyone think we have a fighting chance against Dublin in Nolan Park? Maybe it's just me, but I honestly think, that on our day, and if everyone is on good form, and if the ball hops to Laois' advantage , we could put it up to Dublin.
In a word Tony No.
We have no chance against Dublin.
We have some really good forwards and a very good midfield but we have no tight defenders.
Even if we got 1-14 they are likely to get 3-18+
Great to get off to a good start against Galway ..
Who are our 6 best defenders ?
Quote from: ILikeStrawberryJam on January 18, 2016, 07:53:31 PM
In a word Tony No.
We have no chance against Dublin.
We have some really good forwards and a very good midfield but we have no tight defenders.
Even if we got 1-14 they are likely to get 3-18+
Great to get off to a good start against Galway ..
Who are our 6 best defenders ?
Good point I like strawberry Jam I think our defense could be a bit tighter this year...
Young Seale is a player who might just suprise a few at corner back.
Farrell could also push for a place and if Quigley or Begley are back then O'Loughlin could play at centre back maybe Begley at half back with Strong the other side not all great markers but would be a powerful half back line.
Team for galway
Brody
Seale
Timmons
Attride
Strong
O'Loughlin
Farrell
Meaney
Quigley
C.Begley
D.Kingston
O'Carroll
P.Kingston
G.Walsh
P.Cahillane
Thats just an example of the team we could have I know there is other lads like Evan Costello Eoin Lowry Danny O'Reilly Trevor Collins N.Murphy knocking at the door you have like of Lillis and Munnelly available aswell.
Quote from: Unlaoised on January 19, 2016, 09:15:38 AM
Quote from: ILikeStrawberryJam on January 18, 2016, 07:53:31 PM
In a word Tony No.
We have no chance against Dublin.
We have some really good forwards and a very good midfield but we have no tight defenders.
Even if we got 1-14 they are likely to get 3-18+
Great to get off to a good start against Galway ..
Who are our 6 best defenders ?
Good point I like strawberry Jam I think our defense could be a bit tighter this year...
Young Seale is a player who might just suprise a few at corner back.
Farrell could also push for a place and if Quigley or Begley are back then O'Loughlin could play at centre back maybe Begley at half back with Strong the other side not all great markers but would be a powerful half back line.
Team for galway
Brody
Seale
Timmons
Attride
Strong
O'Loughlin
Farrell
Meaney
Quigley
C.Begley
D.Kingston
O'Carroll
P.Kingston
G.Walsh
P.Cahillane
Thats just an example of the team we could have I know there is other lads like Evan Costello Eoin Lowry Danny O'Reilly Trevor Collins N.Murphy knocking at the door you have like of Lillis and Munnelly available aswell.
swap O Loughlin and Begley
JOL has been our best player, playing at midfield over the last 2 years or so. I wouldn't dream of shifting him out of that position.
Quote from: Giovanni on January 19, 2016, 09:46:23 AM
JOL has been our best player, playing at midfield over the last 2 years or so. I wouldn't dream of shifting him out of that position.
I see your point Maybe try Meaney at centre back then or Quigley as a half forward?hard not to start the 3 of them in my opinion
That backline you named only has two natural defenders in seale and Timmons , to compete with the top teams we need too find the next cahir Healys but are there any.Begley, strong and the likes are all great footballers but a bit loose and attack-minded to accommodate them all in the same defence.
I dont think Cahillane would be a starter. Might make an impact coming off the bench.
Ross has to play with Tom shiels pushing hard for a place. He really impressed me last year.
Quote from: Laois fan on January 19, 2016, 01:46:14 PM
That backline you named only has two natural defenders in seale and Timmons , to compete with the top teams we need too find the next cahir Healys but are there any.Begley, strong and the likes are all great footballers but a bit loose and attack-minded to accommodate them all in the same defence.
Surely modern defences rely on systems now and not on individual tight defending? If we are intending to play man on man, then we might as well forget about it. We should be looking at players who can do a job in a system, not become the next Joe Higgins. Are Donegal, Tyrone and Dublin's defenders all super tight man markers?
Quote from: Unlaoised on January 19, 2016, 10:43:28 AM
Quote from: Giovanni on January 19, 2016, 09:46:23 AM
JOL has been our best player, playing at midfield over the last 2 years or so. I wouldn't dream of shifting him out of that position.
I see your point Maybe try Meaney at centre back then or Quigley as a half forward?hard not to start the 3 of them in my opinion
Yes agree with both points made above but JOL would more than likely contribute a lot more than the others as a half forward.
We've a good keeper / good midfield / good forward line. Pity we don't have another 2 / 3 Timmons in there.
For me, O Loughlin has got to start midfield. Quigley will prob partner him but it's be nice to see Meaney in there - on the half back line for me.
Regarding Cahilane / Ross - it depends if the Ross of 2003 - 2014 shows up. If so, throw him on. It's a lot to ask though. Lot of mileage. Most likely we'll see P Cahilane in there.
Nice to have a few selection headaches I forget about Tom shield he might add something to the fray as well.
I agree our option in defense are low but Attride is decent not sure if Hanrahan is in there this year I thought he might make it last year.
Damien O'Connor is another option he was flying it in defense early last year till he picked up that injury.
I hear its the Lilly's they could be playing this weekend not sure of what day or where!
Quigley is the most over'rate player in laois, he has been big disappointment over the last numbers of years.
Brutal comment - And if you've something bad to say about the players, use nicer language will you? Over rated / big disappointment? Put your real name up if you're going to post that crap.
These lads are committing to Laois every year and they don't deserve to be written about like that on an anonymous forum like that. Let's not let this forum go down that road.
Team for me:
Brody
Seale
Timmons
Attride
Strong
Begley
Meaney
O Loughlin
Quigley
Donagher
D.Kingston
O'Carroll
Ross
G.Walsh
Cahillane
Quote from: goal 10 on January 19, 2016, 06:39:46 PM
Quigley is the most over'rate player in laois, he has been big disappointment over the last numbers of years.
Ha ha you know a lot about football...Quigley is a superb player who is rated by every incounty player in the country.
He end's up marking nearly one of the best of the other county players in all the games he plays...Even in the so called easier games in the last few years if its Carlow it will be Murphy or Leitrim it will be one their best men.
He has been one of Laois's best players over the last 8 years or so and was a big loss two years ago when he wasn't there .
Silly post ...Football is about opinion and I respect that but your post has little substance and to be honest is childish at best!
Wasn't Quigley shortlisted for an All-Star 2 or 3 years ago.
In my opinion, the pairing of Quigley and JOL is one of the very best in the country (up there with Kerry and Mayo). Quigley could work on distribution a bit (which I think he has over the last while) but there's not too many players I'd take ahead of him.
There was a comment earlier about Paul Cahillane not starting, I think we can rule that out! Cahillane will start, nothing surer, because he is one of the best forwards in the county, and also because I can't see any scenario, barring injury, where Mick Lillis won't pick him.
Lillis has managed the county minors and U-21s before and both stints were notable for the amount of Portlaoise players he accommodated in those teams. It will be the same at senior level, as I don't see him changing his tune on that. Of the teams picked here already, none of them had Kieran Lillis in them - do any of ye really think he will or should be left out? I'd imagine we will see a team close to this starting (possibly with positional switches), if not against Galway, then at some stage in the league.
Brody
Seale
Timmons
Cotter
Strong
Lillis
Dillon
O'Loughlin
Quigley
Begley
O'Carroll
Donoher
Walsh
Kingston
Cahillane
Portlaoise players are more attuned to the type of game Lillis wants to play and I can see him falling back on them where possible. In the O'Byrne Cup he appeared to be converting Dillon into a wing back, which might suit him, and he will be given a run there in the league I would imagine, and Kieran Lillis, once fit, will surely be centre-back.
Munnelly has been a phenomenal player for Laois but I can't see him starting this year, although I'd be happily proved wrong on that. If he comes in, it will probably be in place of Gary Walsh or Donoher. Kingston should be at full-forward because he hasn't the work rate required for further out the field, and it's in our interests to keep our best scoring forward close to goal. Also, I think himself and Cahillane could be potent if left to work off each other within 30 yards of goal. We don't need Kingston getting on the ball around the middle of the field.
Two glaringly obvious incorrect things in your post Steven Seagal -
1 : You say Lillis obvious at centre back? - He simply doesn't have the speed for there, but I can see him on the wing.
2 : You say Kingston doesn't have the required work rate to be further out than the full-forward line? I can only assume you were in North Korea the last couple of years. Kingston's fitness and hence his work rate his tripled in the last couple of years. Anyone who pays attention to off-the-ball movement knows he's one of the hardest workers on the panel.
Quote from: Tony on January 20, 2016, 03:00:26 PM
Two glaringly obvious incorrect things in your post Steven Seagal -
1 : You say Lillis obvious at centre back? - He simply doesn't have the speed for there, but I can see him on the wing.
2 : You say Kingston doesn't have the required work rate to be further out than the full-forward line? I can only assume you were in North Korea the last couple of years. Kingston's fitness and hence his work rate his tripled in the last couple of years. Anyone who pays attention to off-the-ball movement knows he's one of the hardest workers on the panel.
Your first Answer and point is up for debate....Lillis could end up at Center back No matter where he will and rightly so push hard for a position in the defense.
Point 2 about Kingston I agree he has been superb at Center forward and his distribuation from there is a joy to watch also he is a great target for a back who needs to get shot of a ball but won't reach the full forward line ..He gets frustrated in at Full forward and he can kick long distance points which we need in the half forward line.
add to that the understanding he has with Cahillane already in the games I've seen and add his brother Paul(who can find each other like a magnet to a fridge) to that and we could be on to a winner in the forwards if Ross could make it then we would give a lot of teams problems.
Tony, greetings from north of the Bridge of No Return.
Lillis' suitability to centre-back won't really come into, in my opinion. He will start if he's fit, and most likely at centre-back, because that's the position he captained Portlaoise to a county championship in. The team I listed is a team I expect to start based on Mick Lillis' record as intercounty manager of our minor and U-21 teams, rather than a team I would pick myself. Also, if you believe he hasn't the pace for centre-back then I'm not sure why you would be inclined to put him on the wing, where pace is arguably more important, given most wing-backs nowadays will be expected to be up and down the field for 70 minutes. But maybe things have changed since I came over here with Dennis Rodman, I don't get to see many matches, Kim Jong Un did his Erasmus year in UCG so he only lets us watch Galway matches.
On the subject of Kingston, I have seen him running off the ball. I have eyes too. All his running off the ball is solely to gain possession of said ball. In terms of tackling and tracking runs, he doesn't run with the same conviction. It is particularly obvious any time he loses possession, after which he invariably throws his hands in the air in disappointment or complains to a referee or linesman. He does this repeatedly. In such circumstances he rarely tries to win the ball back or get back and help out in defence.
Even if he did run around like a Kenyan, to me, it is still pointless to play him at centre-forward. I'm sure you were in Navan last Sunday week, when he was moved out of centre-forward with barely ten minutes gone. When he did go in full-forward, he scored an outrageous point at one stage, when he won the ball about 30/35 yards out, held off a few defenders and pointed from 20 yards out. That's the key to success for Laois, getting the ball to Kingston close to goal. At full-forward with the right supply he should score three or four points from play per game before he even steps up to a free, and attract enough attention to free up space for the likes of Cahillane et al. Having him out the field is a misuse of his strengths IMO.
I agree with Unlaoised that his distribution is excellent, but I'd still sooner see him full-forward where he can do more damage. I'm not sold on the matter of long-range point shooting though, as good as Kingston is, you don't want him shooting from 40 yards out. You don't really want anyone shooting from distance. The majority of points are scored from within 30 yards or so of the goal, and that's where I'd want my best scoring forward to be operating out of.
Anyway, off to praise our fearless leader. Pyongyang Abú.
Quote from: steven seagal on January 20, 2016, 11:57:41 AM
There was a comment earlier about Paul Cahillane not starting, I think we can rule that out! Cahillane will start, nothing surer, because he is one of the best forwards in the county, and also because I can't see any scenario, barring injury, where Mick Lillis won't pick him.
Lillis has managed the county minors and U-21s before and both stints were notable for the amount of Portlaoise players he accommodated in those teams. It will be the same at senior level, as I don't see him changing his tune on that. Of the teams picked here already, none of them had Kieran Lillis in them - do any of ye really think he will or should be left out? I'd imagine we will see a team close to this starting (possibly with positional switches), if not against Galway, then at some stage in the league.
Brody
Seale
Timmons
Cotter
Strong
Lillis
Dillon
O'Loughlin
Quigley
Begley
O'Carroll
Donoher
Walsh
Kingston
Cahillane
Portlaoise players are more attuned to the type of game Lillis wants to play and I can see him falling back on them where possible. In the O'Byrne Cup he appeared to be converting Dillon into a wing back, which might suit him, and he will be given a run there in the league I would imagine, and Kieran Lillis, once fit, will surely be centre-back.
Munnelly has been a phenomenal player for Laois but I can't see him starting this year, although I'd be happily proved wrong on that. If he comes in, it will probably be in place of Gary Walsh or Donoher. Kingston should be at full-forward because he hasn't the work rate required for further out the field, and it's in our interests to keep our best scoring forward close to goal. Also, I think himself and Cahillane could be potent if left to work off each other within 30 yards of goal. We don't need Kingston getting on the ball around the middle of the field.
I'd say your not far off with that team SS. except for 1 or 2
isn't Donoher injured ?
Lillis put a lot of effort into getting Meaney back, I think he'll start.
Cahillane has a great understanding with Donie that goes back to McNulty 1st year.
Ross I think will be used for last 20 mins. of games
Donoher has been togged out for all the games but hasn't featured yet. All luck seems to have deserted him in the last few years in terms of injuries so hopefully he'll be back for the league. I think he's the kind of player that Lillis will like so I'd imagine he'll get his chance when he's fit.
lillis is as slow as a snail, once turned he is fuxked....you saw the leinster club final and the boden team walking through the middle of town defence.
I am open minded on 2016 for the senior football team apart from Lillis, who in my mind has no place in a championship squad..........no doubt he will get plenty of chances.
Kingston can play anywhere, the rest of the forwards need to up their game and stop relying upon him.
If you think K Lillis has no place in the championship squad, oneflewoverthecuckoosnest, I can only assume that you thought this was the Dublin forum. Since when can Laois leave out a back like Lillis of the WHOLE SQUAD when we have a massive shortage in defence already? Good idea to think before we type - some absolute donkey points on here at times.
Quote from: Tony on January 21, 2016, 08:48:52 AM
If you think K Lillis has no place in the championship squad, oneflewoverthecuckoosnest, I can only assume that you thought this was the Dublin forum. Since when can Laois leave out a back like Lillis of the WHOLE SQUAD when we have a massive shortage in defence already? Good idea to think before we type - some absolute donkey points on here at times.
I agree 100% with Tony..Remember Lillis only came back this year after a horrible spell with injuries so was only getting up to speed and I thought he was decent on Portlaoise's run to what should have been a Leinster.
Not even three years ago I was at a League game in Longford when Lillis came on at half time for Pauric McMahon at left half back and changed the whole game Laois were down by three at half time but ended up winning by three or four he was immense that day winning all the breaks from midfield in the second half.
He ended up at number 6 that year as we had a good run in the qualifiers and pushed Donegal in Carrick on shannon in a game we lost by six in the end but could have easily won.
I'm sure if he gets back to that level he will be in contention for a start.
His father being the manager will not have any influence only that it will inspire Kieran himself to work harder and if he deserves a place then he will get it.
I dont think Lillis can compete with our similar big men in quigley,meaney,oloughlin,begley.
Cant really see where he'd get a spot.
Hes a good honest player but i think he'd be badly exposed at CHB, simply has the pace.
I'm not sure why people think Cahillane will be a success. He had a run before and struggled at this level.
He's a great finisher one on one with a keeper but i cant see him winning his ball. Impact sub for me.
Dillon at half back is an interesting one .. could work ..
Cahilane will be an excellent addition to the team, I have no doubts.
I think he'll struggle Tony. Ross will be the man again or Tom Shiels.
If I'm wrong feel free to pull me up on it and I'll eat a large slice of humble pie.
Sounds like a plan. Challenge game this weekend I believe. Hopefully we're all set for Galway.
Who are we playing in the challenge game and where is it Tony?
Looks like Galway are having their own problems with injuries..
http://www.independent.ie/sport/gaelic-games/gaelic-football/walsh-voices-concern-over-tribesmens-rising-injury-list-34386407.html (http://www.independent.ie/sport/gaelic-games/gaelic-football/walsh-voices-concern-over-tribesmens-rising-injury-list-34386407.html)
Played Kildare I believe in Kildare
Lost by a point not sure of the score.
Quigley was back and came on but he is unavailable for the first two games anyway.
Not sure what the team was but was told Cotter Seale O'Loughlin and the two Kingston's played well .
Laois missed a peno but not sure who missed it!
Roll on next weekend a good boost for Galway beating Rosscommon but they have their problems with injuries.
Any word on a possible starting 15?
I wouldn't say Lillis knows his first 15 at this stage and its hard for him with so many personal missing especially in the back line
I would make a stab at...
Brody
Seale
Timmons
Hanrahan/Kehoe/A Farrell
Strong
A .Farrell/P.Cotter
Dillion
O'Loughlin
Meaney
O'Carroll
D.Kingston
Costello/N.Murphy/O'Connor
P.Kingston
G.Walsh
P.Cahilanne
As you can see there is a lot of positions i'm undecided about i'm just going from a bt of opinion and how they
lined up in the O'Byrne cup games..
Can't believe that Attride and Lowry are not involved...Attride is playing great stuff for DCU
Time will tell I suppose I still think Cotter could do a job at centre back for us...
Munnelly and Donoher are injured and Colm Begley hasn't come back in yet!Quigley is suspended!
What's the story with Attride and Lowry not on the panel. Were they dropped or not available?
Not quite sure I don't think Lowry was asked that might not be right.
Attride said he wasn't available but things might change...
*watch this space!*
rte radio last sunday with 3 panellists and newstalk during the week ditto were in unanimous agreement that laois were the one team certain to be relegated from division 2. they all wrote off the team. it should act as some sort of incentive for the players to stand up and be counted.
I do suspect despite the advantage of 4 homes v 3 aways, that at least a draw is required from Saturday night or else the doomsayers could be predicting right.
Quote from: oneflewoverthecuckoonest on January 28, 2016, 02:00:26 PMat least a draw is required from Saturday night
It's on Sunday! Don't turn up early!
Haven't we been touted for the drop (mostly by Laois people!) every year for the last 4 or 5 years? Last year was the closest as we were too slow to build fitness early in the year. I predict that we will stay up as we have enough good footballers and should be better than 2015.
Quote from: blueandwhite1 on January 28, 2016, 03:08:15 PM
Haven't we been touted for the drop (mostly by Laois people!) every year for the last 4 or 5 years? Last year was the closest as we were too slow to build fitness early in the year. I predict that we will stay up as we have enough good footballers and should be better than 2015.
Ye last year we were brutal early on, Galway has being our banker recently so lets hope for the same Sunday.
Tyrone look like the one outstanding team but any of the other games could go either way.
5 Points requires.
Quote from: Unlaoised on January 27, 2016, 03:53:14 PM
I wouldn't say Lillis knows his first 15 at this stage and its hard for him with so many personal missing especially in the back line
I would make a stab at...
Brody
Seale
Timmons
Hanrahan/Kehoe/A Farrell
Strong
A .Farrell/P.Cotter
Dillion
O'Loughlin
Meaney
D.O'Connor/D.O'Reilly
D.Kingston
Costello/N.Murphy
P.Kingston
G.Walsh
P.Cahilanne
As you can see there is a lot of positions i'm undecided about i'm just going from a bt of opinion and how they
lined up in the O'Byrne cup games..
Can't believe that Attride and Lowry are not involved...Attride is playing great stuff for DCU
Time will tell I suppose I still think Cotter could do a job at centre back for us...
Munnelly and Donoher are injured and Colm Begley hasn't come back in yet!Quigley is suspended!
Quigley suspended remind me ???
Paddy Power has it down for 7pm on Saturday. Gaa.ie has it down for Sunday at 2.
Which is more likely to be correct?
Anywhere I've seen it listed it's 2pm Sunday!
Quigley got a red card against Antrim in the last game he played or Laois played last year......
Its 100% Sunday 2pm lets hope we can get a few out to support the lads...
Tickets are on sale in downeys and in Mulhalls in Portlaoise and if you buy before Saturday its a fiver less!
Quote from: Unlaoised on January 28, 2016, 05:09:46 PM
Quigley got a red card against Antrim in the last game he played or Laois played last year......
Its 100% Sunday 2pm lets hope we can get a few out to support the lads...
Tickets are on sale in downeys and in Mulhalls in Portlaoise and if you buy before Saturday its a fiver less!
O!! I though red cards applied only to the competition they were received in.
My team for Sunday (from what I assume is available):
1. Brody
2. Cotter
3. Timmons
4. D. O'Connor
5. Strong
6. Farrell
7. Seale
8. O'Loughlin
9. Meaney
10. Costello
11. D. Kingston
12. O'Carroll
13. P.Kingston
14. Walsh
15. Cahillane
It was a difficult enough team to pick. Begley, Quigley, Munnelly, Donohor to come back to it too which will strengthen it as it does look a bit weak. Definitely capable of beating Galway but it will be difficult. Hopefully there will be a good crowd in town!
I'll go with from what I'm hearing and this ain't confirmed yet
1. Brody
2. Seale
3. Timmons
4. Kehoe
5. Strong
6. Farrell
7. Cotter
8. O'Loughlin
9. Meaney
10. Costello
11. D. Kingston
12. O'Carroll
13. P.Kingston
14. Walsh/an other depending on his injury!
15. Cahillane
Any news on the team its normally out by now....
Quote from: OTF on January 28, 2016, 06:31:05 PM
Quote from: Unlaoised on January 28, 2016, 05:09:46 PM
Quigley got a red card against Antrim in the last game he played or Laois played last year......
Its 100% Sunday 2pm lets hope we can get a few out to support the lads...
Tickets are on sale in downeys and in Mulhalls in Portlaoise and if you buy before Saturday its a fiver less!
O!! I though red cards applied only to the competition they were received in.
Thought so as well but he also got a straight red against kildare in the replay...mabe the double red in the one competition has role on punishments for the following year no matter the competition
Terrible performance. Better in second half but it was all over by then. The revolving door of poorer players replacing slightly better players is catching up on us. You'd have to feel for the lads who are there every year and watching as worse players get a place each season. I can't see how that team could avoid relegation. There were at least three starting today who wouldn't get a spot on Division 4 teams
Jack Nolan said it all in couple of minutes at half time when I suspect he thought the mike was switched off. 'Horrendous, some of the lads he has out there wouldn't even make a minor team' or something close to that. Manager must take a big chunk of the blame for how badly organized the defence was. He can only play the best players available but the setup sounded a million miles off what is required at inter county level.
management out of their depth, poor team selection, no discernible set up.....mick and co would have been more suited to a county like Carlow with no expectations.
woolly's tweet about the number of starters linked to the selectors home clubs did hit home today, 4 of them hooked by half time.
take out Kingston and we are a middle table div 3 team, now on a par with offaly.
I cannot start to imagine what Dublin would do to us in the championship judged on that performance today.
Quote from: oneflewoverthecuckoonest on January 31, 2016, 07:45:01 PM
management out of their depth, poor team selection, no discernible set up.....mick and co would have been more suited to a county like Carlow with no expectations.
woolly's tweet about the number of starters linked to the selectors home clubs did hit home today, 4 of them hooked by half time.
take out Kingston and we are a middle table div 3 team, now on a par with offaly.
I cannot start to imagine what Dublin would do to us in the championship judged on that performance today.
Could you post the starting team please.
That first half was a shambles, as bad as anything we've produced in recent years. The reports coming out of the camp in the build up to the game weren't positive but I still didn't expect anything as bad as that. Fitness levels are nowhere near good enough, and the team selection was a bit bizarre IMO. To start three lads in the half forward line with no experience at this level was asking for trouble, and we got plenty of it.
We couldn't track runs at all and their defenders bombed forward at will. I reckon they got around four points from play from their starting six backs, and their first goal came from No 5 running free at the Laois full-back line. Seeing John O'Loughlin at full-forward wasn't a sign of a team that knew what they wanted to do. Lads were moved around all over the place in the hope something would happen. We only really played well once Galway had the game well and truly wrapped up.
Armagh are up next and they are without the Crossmaglen lads so now is as good a time as any to face them. Whether we are fit enough or organised enough to take advantage of that remains to be seen. On the evidence of this we are not, but in recent years we have lurched from disastrous performances to impressive ones in a short space of time, so hopefully we can do that again. I remember a few years ago we got played off the park by Mayo in an opening league game before beating Donegal, in Donegal, the following week. We have to hope we can do that again, but it's a big ask.
OTF, team was as follows
Brody, Kehoe, Timmons, Seale, Strong, Cotter, Dillon, O'Loughlin, Meaney, Jamie Farrell, Nigel Murphy, Alan Farrell, Kingston, O'Carroll, Cahillane. Lillis came in for Seale after about 20 minutes. Trevor Collins, Paul Kingston, Danny O'Reilly and Gary Walsh all came in at half time, and Damien O'Connor came in near the end.
Quote from: OTF on January 31, 2016, 08:03:57 PM
Quote from: oneflewoverthecuckoonest on January 31, 2016, 07:45:01 PM
management out of their depth, poor team selection, no discernible set up.....mick and co would have been more suited to a county like Carlow with no expectations.
woolly's tweet about the number of starters linked to the selectors home clubs did hit home today, 4 of them hooked by half time.
take out Kingston and we are a middle table div 3 team, now on a par with offaly.
I cannot start to imagine what Dublin would do to us in the championship judged on that performance today.
Could you post the starting team please.
won't say on par with offaly they have won Sam laois haven't anyway they could be in divison 2 next year as laois head for division 3.
Calm down. The first half team is nowhere near our proper starting 15. As soon as walsh, lillis, came on, we looked a lot better.
We were extremely rusty. Galway were sharp from their tournament. We were very sloppy but a lot of lads need to come back. The second half was decent.
Donie, dillon, evan, timmons, walsh were all good. Having begley and quigley, attride back will be huge.
It's January. We're not sharp. Ultimately, i dont think this manager will take us to the next level but we have a stronger panel this year.
The matches in the coming weeks will be a greater indicator of where we're at.
Personally, I'd be very worried by the this display. There were a few things wrong from my perspective. Firstly, the players didn't look fit. I think a few of them must have been carrying injuries, which might account for some of it. But generally, there didn't seem to be either power or stamina in the performance. The second worrying thing was the team selection. Obviously, it'll take a while for some of the new lads to find their feet but leaving off the likes of Paul Kingston, Gary Walsh and Lillis for what was an important game for a new manager just looked a bit bizarre to me. Asking Cahillane to take frees from the 45 yard line and not letting him take the penalty was strange. Finally, apart from a handful of individuals, there was no evidence that I could see that the team had any kind of cohersion or leadership and problem areas were not identified and resolved quickly enough. The first 45 minutes was one of the poorest displays from a Laois team that I've seen in the last 10 years. The last 25 minutes was really a non-event.
There aren't too many positives to take from it but I thought the displays of Robbie Kehoe (particularly when he started playing more of a sweeper role), Evan O Carroll (who shows good maturity for such a young lad) and Gary Walsh were very good quality. Paul Cahillane showed well too and worked hard. Lillis looked energetic and improved things a great deal when he came on.
But given that you'd expect some kind of an early surge in performance from a new manager, this isn't looking great in my opinion.
Hopefully we give a good account of ourselves next week in Armagh. Think it's on Setanta Ireland.
Overall a absolutely dire performance. As bad a first half performance in years in OMP. We made Galway look good today, an average side at best (no offense to Galway). God only knows how worse it would have been if Galway had pushed up further for short kickouts. Very bad goals to give away, particularly the 3rd one, seemed to be no communication between Timmons and Brody. The other 2 goals pretty much walked in!
A rude awakening for a few of the debutants today. Hopefully they'll get their chance to put it right the next day.
O carroll, and Gary Walsh when he came on made a difference though Galway took foot off the pedal too for a lot of the second half.
Quote from: steven seagal on January 31, 2016, 08:15:37 PM
OTF, team was as follows
Brody, Kehoe, Timmons, Seale, Strong, Cotter, Dillon, O'Loughlin, Meaney, Jamie Farrell, Nigel Murphy, Alan Farrell, Kingston, O'Carroll, Cahillane. Lillis came in for Seale after about 20 minutes. Trevor Collins, Paul Kingston, Danny O'Reilly and Gary Walsh all came in at half time, and Damien O'Connor came in near the end.
Thanks SS
Quote from: Thewildcat on January 31, 2016, 08:30:17 PM
Quote from: OTF on January 31, 2016, 08:03:57 PM
Quote from: oneflewoverthecuckoonest on January 31, 2016, 07:45:01 PM
management out of their depth, poor team selection, no discernible set up.....mick and co would have been more suited to a county like Carlow with no expectations.
woolly's tweet about the number of starters linked to the selectors home clubs did hit home today, 4 of them hooked by half time.
take out Kingston and we are a middle table div 3 team, now on a par with offaly.
I cannot start to imagine what Dublin would do to us in the championship judged on that performance today.
Could you post the starting team please.
won't say on par with offaly they have won Sam laois haven't anyway they could be in divison 2 next year as laois head for division 3.
A lovely a Laois hurling man backing up the Biffos says it all really
Comments a bit premature here. Wait for a few more games. Jury is still out. Willing to give the benefit of the doubt, but if we see this type of performance again throughout the league, the manager will have to answer some serious questions. Willing to give him time, though. I believe we have a good enough panel to get mid table or higher, with a good manager. Lillis needs to prove himself. Until then, i'm not going to slate him. This performance was not good but Give the man time.
It's not really about Mick Lillis. He got the job because nobody else wanted it. He has all the enthusiasm in the world, but is surrounded by a lot of players who are half decent club footballers at best. We have 4 or 5 lads who are capable of playing at this and higher levels, but in general, our standards are slipping as a county. Anyone saying anyone to the contrary obviously has a vested interest or is just blind. It will of course get a bit better if the few lads return, but let's face it, it couldn't get any worse than yesterday. We are a Division 3 side in all but name anyway. I have no doubt that Kildare and Westmeath would beat us at the moment.
Have you seen the up and coming laois teams? Plenty of talent. The squad is strong this year, make no mistake : plenty of potential here (by Laois standards). With the right manager, the team could do well. The manager IS EXTREMELY important. Just look at what Donegal did with McGuinness. I HOPE Mick Lillis is the man. He needs to prove himself.
Quote from: Unlaoised on February 01, 2016, 01:37:47 AM
Quote from: Thewildcat on January 31, 2016, 08:30:17 PM
Quote from: OTF on January 31, 2016, 08:03:57 PM
Quote from: oneflewoverthecuckoonest on January 31, 2016, 07:45:01 PM
management out of their depth, poor team selection, no discernible set up.....mick and co would have been more suited to a county like Carlow with no expectations.
woolly's tweet about the number of starters linked to the selectors home clubs did hit home today, 4 of them hooked by half time.
take out Kingston and we are a middle table div 3 team, now on a par with offaly.
I cannot start to imagine what Dublin would do to us in the championship judged on that performance today.
Could you post the starting team please.
won't say on par with offaly they have won Sam laois haven't anyway they could be in divison 2 next year as laois head for division 3.
A lovely a Laois hurling man backing up the Biffos says it all really
Thewildcat is no more a Laois man than Elvis. He is a Biffo.
Quote from: Tony on February 01, 2016, 11:09:25 AM
Have you seen the up and coming laois teams? Plenty of talent. The squad is strong this year, make no mistake : plenty of potential here (by Laois standards). With the right manager, the team could do well. The manager IS EXTREMELY important. Just look at what Donegal did with McGuinness. I HOPE Mick Lillis is the man. He needs to prove himself.
Laois people have a terrible habit of getting excited about Laois lads based on what they do in Laois. It's a different ball game when we go outside of Laois. We're in a bad way Tony. Fair play if you have yourself convinced otherwise
I see from the other thread that the u-21s are no good either in your view.
As a matter of interest, when is the last time that you were excited by a Laois team?
I'm not excited by our lads really. I just think we have a decent squad this year by our standards. Apart from 2003 - 2007, we haven't had a successful team. Ever. No sam. So I don't know why people are thinking we're "worse than ever" when we're about PAR for ever. Somewhere around the middle.
My point is that, with the right manager, we can reach our potential. That's not all-ireland winning, but it's probably quarter final standard. I hope Lillis is the man and we can only give him time to prove that.
A successful year for many counties is not about winning Sam .
Very early to start judging just yet but the next 3-4 games will tell us a lot about this current regime . Laois looked looked extremely disorganised yesterday but let's wait and see what the next few weeks bring . The league generally can tell how a team takes shape for a year and how much influence the manager has !
Was disgusted at the first half performance like so many in attendance.
They seemed clueless and the Shape was all wrong it didn't help that our forwards and midfielders didn't track the runners.
Seale was hard done by I thought the full back line did okay against a really good Galway full forward line and the time the Galway players got on the ball to find their inside forwards made it very difficult for the backs in the first half.
Kieran Lillis made a big difference when he came in as did the subs at half time and we looked more like a team in the second half.
I'm not sure if nerves got to the two Farrells or Murphy but sadly for them they just didn't turn up in the opening 35 minutes.
Plus point have to be the fact that we didn't give up O'Carroll cahilanne and Kingston showed they can be a threat and Paul Kingston and Gary walsh were certainly an improvement to proceedings why the didn't start i'm not so sure.
Meaney gave his all in the middle and Robbie Kehoe and Timmons were decent in defense especially in the second half.
I hope Begley attride Meridith and Munnelly can all add something and I hope Lillis bites the bullet and invites in Eoin Lowry to the fray even tho it seems he doesn't rate him for some reason.
I'll wait a few games before I make up my mind but I think players and management will have learned a lot in defeat Sunday which they can use in Armagh saturday night!
Would agree with unlaoised assessment . We are not in the position as a county to be overlooking players in form . Yes Lillis is correct in saying Lowry did not have the best of championships but surely he's worth a place on hen Senior panel . Seen him twice this year and on both occasions looked impressive .
Kieran Lillis certainly made a difference when he arrived on the field on Sunday and I can see a lot of positional changed for crossmaglen on Saturday night . Laois always bring a decent following up there so hopefully the same will happen this weekend .
Quote from: Unlaoised on February 01, 2016, 01:37:47 AM
Quote from: Thewildcat on January 31, 2016, 08:30:17 PM
Quote from: OTF on January 31, 2016, 08:03:57 PM
Quote from: oneflewoverthecuckoonest on January 31, 2016, 07:45:01 PM
management out of their depth, poor team selection, no discernible set up.....mick and co would have been more suited to a county like Carlow with no expectations.
woolly's tweet about the number of starters linked to the selectors home clubs did hit home today, 4 of them hooked by half time.
take out Kingston and we are a middle table div 3 team, now on a par with offaly.
I cannot start to imagine what Dublin would do to us in the championship judged on that performance today.
Could you post the starting team please.
won't say on par with offaly they have won Sam laois haven't anyway they could be in divison 2 next year as laois head for division 3.
A lovely a Laois hurling man backing up the Biffos says it all really
Pay no attention to Thewildcat folks. A thick biffo who doesn't know where he comes from! Posts as townman on uibhfhaili.com, safe to say there's a village missing its idiot.
Meredith won't be back this year and Lowry has been asked but declined to come in. That first half on Sunday was very poor, We were favourites for relegation before Sunday and that display only shortened our odds.
The goals were handed to Galway and weren't hard worked for. The third one so early in the second half killed off the game. Brody should have got his hand to it.
Anyhow we are where we are and in fairness we were favourites for relegation this time last year and survived by kicking Roscommon our of O'Moore Park and rescuing a draw against Meath. We also should have got something out of the Armagh game so all is not lost yet.
Hopefully Lillis makes a better selection next weekend because he made some poor choices with his starting 15 yesterday. It's not going to get any easier so there's very little room for error from here on in.
Wont be too hard on Lillis yet but my God did he get off to a stinker. The whole team looked like they were stuck to the ground in the opening half. I was looking towards Kingston and O'Loughlin to lead them out of the rut but it never happened. I suppose the fact that they have very little football played was a factor but the way Galway walked through them was embarrassing at times and our forwards were awful.
Balls falling into the keepers hands and simple passes going astray or behind the intended receiver were happening far too often and Galway punished us almost every time we handed them possession. The penalty was won by Evan O'Carroll who was very good throughout the game and should have been the kickstart we needed but Donie simply passed the ball to the keeper with a tame shot and a great chance was lost. Why Cahallaine didn't take it I'll never know.....
Having said that the changes at half time worked to some extent and we dominated for long periods but still found it hard to score. Our goal came from another great run from O'Carroll and finished brilliantly by young O'Reilly. Then an awful mistake by Brody, who should have stayed on his line handed them another handy goal and we were struggling again. Still they fought back well and but for some dreadful passing and decision making at times we could have gotten a lot closer.
With a few lads coming back and that first game out of the way there seems to be a lot of talent on that team, hopefully enough to at least keep us in this division.
Within a year or two we should be able to put out a team that contains Kingston x 2, O'Carroll, Eoin Lowry, Sean Moore in the forward line. Surely that bodes well for the future?
Quote from: SpeculativeEffort on February 02, 2016, 09:31:01 AM
Within a year or two we should be able to put out a team that contains Kingston x 2, O'Carroll, Eoin Lowry, Sean Moore in the forward line. Surely that bodes well for the future?
Yes that looks good on paper, all we'll need then is 6 defenders.
Seriously what is it with Laois we don't seem to do defending.
I think Galway had more games played than us and certainly last weeks game against Roscommon would have stood to them.
It was obivious from the start they were sharper.
As I said in the previous post I think the management team got the team wrong and it was a harsh place to learn that with so much at stake in this first league game.
They must take credit for the Changes but most in the Stand called the changes so I'm not quite sure why they didn't start with a team similar to the one that finished.
Maybe the two Farrell's and Murphy were going well in training and to be fair Jamie did show well in the the few O'Byrne cup games but in the backs not the forwards.
We looked very small from the throw in player for player apart from Donie,Timmons and the two midfielders we were down inches all over the pitch.
With the likes of Begley and Quigley not there and then say even the likes of Finn and Boyle not involved it means we are a smaller team this year.
Armagh is a must win game now probably for both sides watching the highlights of their game against Meath last night it was obivious they can be opened up down the middle similar to us in the first half Sunday.
They have decent players in Forker's,Stefan Cambell is a big man who can cause damage in the half forward line .
McKenna and McParland will trouble any backs in this division.
Hopefully they won't have too many more to call on and they are missing their main man Jamie Clarke.
McGeeney will have their backs as physical as your going to come up against and he knows Laois so he will be targeting players like Kingston and Cahilanne so I hope we have a strong referee.
It will be a tough battle as they play a very deep game like he did with Kildare we will need to kick points from distance I hope Kingston,Meaney and Strong have their shooting boots on!
Quote from: redsetanta on February 01, 2016, 10:05:47 PM
Meredith won't be back this year and Lowry has been asked but declined to come in. That first half on Sunday was very poor, We were favourites for relegation before Sunday and that display only shortened our odds.
The goals were handed to Galway and weren't hard worked for. The third one so early in the second half killed off the game. Brody should have got his hand to it.
Anyhow we are where we are and in fairness we were favourites for relegation this time last year and survived by kicking Roscommon our of O'Moore Park and rescuing a draw against Meath. We also should have got something out of the Armagh game so all is not lost yet.
Hopefully Lillis makes a better selection next weekend because he made some poor choices with his starting 15 yesterday. It's not going to get any easier so there's very little room for error from here on in.
That comment re Lowry is untrue. Mick Lillis confirmed in his post match interview that Lowry hadn't been asked in:
https://soundcloud.com/midlandssport/mick-lillis-post-galway
Quote from: Unlaoised on February 02, 2016, 10:26:35 AM
I think Galway had more games played than us and certainly last weeks game against Roscommon would have stood to them.
It was obivious from the start they were sharper.
As I said in the previous post I think the management team got the team wrong and it was a harsh place to learn that with so much at stake in this first league game.
They must take credit for the Changes but most in the Stand called the changes so I'm not quite sure why they didn't start with a team similar to the one that finished.
Maybe the two Farrell's and Murphy were going well in training and to be fair Jamie did show well in the the few O'Byrne cup games but in the backs not the forwards.
We looked very small from the throw in player for player apart from Donie,Timmons and the two midfielders we were down inches all over the pitch.
With the likes of Begley and Quigley not there and then say even the likes of Finn and Boyle not involved it means we are a smaller team this year.
Armagh is a must win game now probably for both sides watching the highlights of their game against Meath last night it was obivious they can be opened up down the middle similar to us in the first half Sunday.
They have decent players in Forker's,Stefan Cambell is a big man who can cause damage in the half forward line .
McKenna and McParland will trouble any backs in this division.
Hopefully they won't have too many more to call on and they are missing their main man Jamie Clarke.
McGeeney will have their backs as physical as your going to come up against and he knows Laois so he will be targeting players like Kingston and Cahilanne so I hope we have a strong referee.
It will be a tough battle as they play a very deep game like he did with Kildare we will need to kick points from distance I hope Kingston,Meaney and Strong have their shooting boots on!
Lillis seem to be surprised by how big Galway were towards our lads, that worries me to be honest... like what did he expect.
Its a while now since the "too small" term has being used in relation to Laois.
Poorly conditioned teams will always look smaller/weaker/slower than their better conditioned opponents.
Shapes you are correct. I hadn't heard that piece of audio.
My info was wrong so. He should invite him in as he's on fire at the moment.
O'Loughlin out now for two games witha broken finger.
To be fair he didn't look himself on Sunday I know he was back late with the panel and had missed a bit of training but this is another blow ...Especially against the physical Armagh and Tyrone!
He's hoping to have Ross and Colm Begley back "before the end of the league". Are their injuries that serious?
Quote from: Giovanni on February 02, 2016, 04:27:02 PM
He's hoping to have Ross and Colm Begley back "before the end of the league". Are their injuries that serious?
Not sure I was told Begley is carrying a knock but is in no rush to get back but that's only a story....Ross had a niggle that needs further treatment.
Donoher is doing all he can to get back.
I will hold my hands up and say I was against the appointment of lillis and also his predecessor Flaherty, and I really liked mcnulty(might have been in a minority).
if laois happens to end the division 2 campaign pointless and relegated, should lillis be given the heave ho before the championship? or should he then be allowed to continue to lead the lambs to the slaughter in the championship?
I ask the two above questions because the narrative out there is that laois had no money to appoint a decent manager, and lillis was considered a cheap option.
trouble is, there remain serious fixed costs with all senior inter county sides irrespective of management, and the extra premium of a "name" coach is not that huge in the bigger picture.
In appointing a cheap option, the executive may end up sucking the lifeblood out of the present squad, supporters losing interest and a developing apathy, all detrimental to the long term welfare of the intercounty game in Laois.
lillis and his selectors have been in position for nearly 5 months, we all saw them sitting together in the stand for the latter stages of the club championships in laois. what they served up laois sunday in terms of selection and team tactics, I would easily say any 3 random punters could have done no worse. The game was dead after 40 minutes, the slight improvement at the finish was meaningless as galway were simply running down the clock happy in their position.
Armagh are probably(w/o the Cross members) the next weakest outfit in div 2. If we lose by 5 points or heavier, I suspect we may see the start of a snowball effect to remove the management.......I will be happy to be proved wrong.
It certainly was a poor tactical performance on Sunday. Squad for squad, I think we were better than Galway on Sunday, but it's worrying that the tactics and selections destroyed us. Still though, it's only the first proper game of 2016. Surely Lillis and Co are better than that. Willing to give the benefit of the doubt, as what's the point in calling for a man's name before he at least settles into a few games. As I said before, it will be very worrying if this trend continues, but, quite simply, Lillis is in there now and he must be worth something.
I agree, lets give this panel and management some time to blend. We are very quick to knock in Laois but we must always remember we have very little history to go on.
Apart from those great minor teams we have had little or no success since although our senior teams have always put up some great battles in the championship.
There are a few good young players on the panel this year and its going to take time to get the best out of them. The u-21 squad is as good as we have had for a long time and given time they will come on stream too. Patience and support is called for now, we will have enough knockers outside of the county so lets get behind them for this year and see how things work out..
Regarding both Munnelly and Begley who are were and are both 2 fantastic servants to Laois football , I don't believe the loss of these two players are that crucial to the first 15 . Having them around the panel without doubt can only be positive given there experience but I'd more worried about John O'Loughlins loss for the next two or three games !
I have no real opinion on Mick Lillis. It appears he got the job because nobody else wanted it, we have no money to get bigger and/or our county board have no ambition. He has a big task ahead of him and he has my best wishes. We could fill a panel of lads who don't want to play, so he's on the back foot before he starts. If we had everyone available to us, we would probably stay in Division 2, but we don't, so the job becomes harder. I always thought staying in Division 2 would act as some sort of motivation to lads to stick around, but our attrition rate in recent years says otherwise. I expect the worst and hope for the best. Nobody else seems to have the amount of drop outs that we do, and it's hard for young lads coming into such a weakened panel
I think it is fair to give the team and manager time before fuller judgement, however I would have thought that a better prepared team for the start of the league should be expected. After our embarrassing collapse against Kildare in the reply and exit at the hands of Antrim in the qualifiers, confidence needs to be built. I still think it is unacceptable that we had no defensive plan and our physical preparation seemed to be well behind for Galway. Not a good indicator of ability to plan and organize. Still, there will be plenty of opportunities for redemption.
It will take till the end of the league at least before we can make any judgement. He seems to be giving lads going well in training a chance which is fine, ok it didn't work out for those lads on Sunday and starting 4/5 debutants in your first league game of the year was probably a mistake.
Remember we were brutal last year 1st day out against Westmeath also and the year before against Donegal enough said.
Just hope Mick and the players give it there all this year there is still some great talent among the squad so here's hoping !
Missed the game Sunday due to a family event. no consideration :P
What was the crowd like on sunday?
5 debutantes and another 2 off the bench was a big gamble from Lillis.
A 1-10 scoreline would have meant points on the board in 2 of the 3 other division 2 games.
The problem with us is, we are conceding far too much and leaving an unattainable score target to beat.
I wasn't a fan of Mcnultys defensive shape but from the years since his tenure i can see why he did it.
Quote from: Hospital Pass on February 03, 2016, 04:05:24 PM
Missed the game Sunday due to a family event. no consideration :P
What was the crowd like on sunday?
5 debutantes and another 2 off the bench was a big gamble from Lillis.
A 1-10 scoreline would have meant points on the board in 2 of the 3 other division 2 games.
The problem with us is, we are conceding far too much and leaving an unattainable score target to beat.
I wasn't a fan of Mcnultys defensive shape but from the years since his tenure i can see why he did it.
Yes Mcnulty made Laois hard to watch but hard to beat at the same time...I think we should have defo kept him for another year!
I just couldnt watch Laois under McNulty in his final year.
There was no enjoyment in it as a supporter and i doubt there was as a player.
I remember being at the league match against Westmeath and he was screaming at i think
it was Gary Walsh to go back and defend. that would have put the entire 15 in our half.
Granted there was a big wind but how is that football.
There has to be a happy medium. To be fair Laois Senior Football Manger in 2016 is a tough job.
He deserves a lash at it. He's a rookie at this level. Hisfirst game tactically was a mess in the first half.
But to be fair several teams took hidings on Sunday. Can he learn from it and adapt, thats the big question..
Armagh will tell us more ..
Quote from: ILikeStrawberryJam on February 03, 2016, 05:42:04 PM
I just couldnt watch Laois under McNulty in his final year.
If Laois want to be competitive against good teams then a proper defensive structure is needed, McNulty had that in place. It will never be known whether that system would have evolved to be better going forward but with the continuous improvement of Donie Kingston and the emergence of Evan O'Carroll and to a lesser extent the younger Kingston it might have happened. These players would have been more enjoyable to watch than Billy Sheehan.
Although I am a Kildare man I felt bad seeing Ross Munnelly stuck in the corner last season too where his loss of pace had him struggling against tight marking corner backs. McNulty had the sense to see that he was more useful pulling the strings out the field where he could find space.
Quote from: Kuwabatake Sanjuro on February 03, 2016, 09:42:38 PM
Quote from: ILikeStrawberryJam on February 03, 2016, 05:42:04 PM
I just couldnt watch Laois under McNulty in his final year.
If Laois want to be competitive against good teams then a proper defensive structure is needed, McNulty had that in place. It will never be known whether that system would have evolved to be better going forward but with the continuous improvement of Donie Kingston and the emergence of Evan O'Carroll and to a lesser extent the younger Kingston it might have happened. These players would have been more enjoyable to watch than Billy Sheehan.
Although I am a Kildare man I felt bad seeing Ross Munnelly stuck in the corner last season too where his loss of pace had him struggling against tight marking corner backs. McNulty had the sense to see that he was more useful pulling the strings out the field where he could find space.
:) :) :) :)
Interesting point of view...
Yeah McNulty had something about him we might have not been great to watch but we were competitive and I think your right the emergence of O'Carroll and Paul Kingston might have just given another edge to the counter attack game he was developing .
Anyway that's a thread for time gone past No word on the team for Saturday night but i'd hazard a guess at something like...
Brody
Cotter
Timmons
Kehoe
Strong
Lillis
Dillon
Meaney
O'Carroll
O'Connor
D.Kingston
E.Costello
P.Kingston
G.Walsh
P.Cahillane
Maybe thats harsh on the lads that got hooked the last day and I think young Seale deserves another go maybe put Cotter at number 6 Lillis in midfield and O'Carroll into the half forwards.
Short of options hope he calls up Lowry maybe Daly and Moore from the 21's now.
we should be protecting our younger footballers never mind rushing them into a senior panel.. i think the u21 panel should be left alone until after they complete there championship, with the obvious exception of O'Carroll maybe one more. Give them a chance.
I read this nearly every day but I rarely post.
Some interesting comments over the last few days.
It always seems to be most active when Laois take a big beating.
In my view, give the new manager a chance and some time. He is trying to build a new team for the championship.
That is what is most important. It wont be the end of the world if we go down to division 3 once we have established our best team for the championship and a potential game with Dublin.
Yes the first half last Sunday against Galway was a shambles but we are experimenting.
Last year we also started awfully aginst both Westmeath and Cavan but we managed to eek our way out. 2 years ago we thrashed Galway in the league yet they put it up to Kerry in the all Ireland quater final. The league can be a funny thing. Monaghan came from division 3 in 2013 to win Ulster. Meath were also in div 3 in 2013. Armagh last year in division 3.
Guys have to come back. Colm Begley is a big loss. Donoher is injured. Quigley is suspended. Anyone know about Tom Shiel? Is S Attride due back?
We do need to find a defensive system as this is where we are in trouble. Plenty of options in attack.
That is what we need to use the league for. Lets hope for a better performance in Armagh. Tighter in defence. Then a few weeks hard training. Come March lets see if things improve. Fermanagh and Cavan games vital along with Derry. I predict we'l improve a lot.
Things should be shaping up come the last game v Meath. That will be a more realistic view of where we stand.
The harder ground, the faster ball.
We survived in division 2 in both 2014 and 2015 and what did we gain? We had disasterous championships.
Obviously we're not world beaters but i'd love if a system and team is in place for championship to Compete. That would mean seeing off Wicklow on May 14th and laying in to Dublin when Nowlan Park arrives. That has to be the target. The team and management should be judged on championship and on a qualifier run.
So lets get behind our guys cos they deserve it. There was a decent crowd in the stand last Sunday and hopefully it continues.
Laois Abu.
Quote from: High Fielder on February 03, 2016, 12:30:18 PM
.... We could fill a panel of lads who don't want to play, so he's on the back foot before he starts.
I always read this kind of comment, year in year out. You say we can pick a panel of players who don't want to play. Go on then - (apart from Cahir Healy who wants to play but can't) - name 10 players that would make a good impact to this team but "don't want to play"?
It'd give anyone a headache listening to that. Give us 10 players who would make an impact, high fielder, or just put that comment to bed.
Glynn, Boyle, Bruno, Healy, Scully, McMahon, o Leary, Meredith, Lowry, Attride, Begley.
Most of them would start ahead of what's in there now. All would be an addition. Take your head out of the sand Tony and stop coding yourself.
Going to be a tough game up in Armagh, but one we are capable of winning. We have a history of pulling off unexpected victories in the league for the last number of years so hopefully this weekend will provide another surprise win. The lads will surely want to bounce back after what was a pretty dismal first outing. If they don't pick up a win or two in the league, management and players will be under serious pressure going into the Wicklow game.
Team for weekend:
Brody
Seale
Timmons
Kehoe
Strong
Cotter
Dillon
Meaney
Lillis
Farrell
Kingston
Donohor
Cahillane
O'Carroll
Walsh
Quote from: High Fielder on February 04, 2016, 09:58:44 PM
Glynn, Boyle, Bruno, Healy, Scully, McMahon, o Leary, Meredith, Lowry, Attride, Begley.
Are you serious boyo.
You said there's a whole panel of players who don't want to play.
Bruno not an intercounty player for many years. Healy committed to the hurlers as he's travelling from London. McMahon, Begley and O Leary retired (they're allowed to retire you know? without having their desire to play for Laois questioned). Lowry wants to play and will be in at some point if management bring him in. Attride is currently playing for his college and will be in.
So that leaves Glynn, Boyle, Scully, Merideth.
Boyle and Merideth have given commitment for years but can't this year. Doesn't mean they don't want to play. They can't play.
Glynn untested at this level - most likely not a starter.
That leaves Scully. Maybe he could come on board.
1 legit person who may or may not make a difference.
Well done High Fielder. Keep making the claim and defaming a whole squad of Laois players "don't want to play for Laois" when you clearly don't know what you're talking about.
Are you going to Armagh tomorrow night Tony?
Brilliant victory tonight for the lads in horrible conditions. Evan O'Carroll is one class act for a young man and he can be a real star for us this year. Paul Cahillane really came good tonight and he is another who will win games for us and he was brilliant tonight. He works so hard off the ball and creates great space for himself and will certainly get better as the year goes on.
McGeaney was not a happy man on the line tonight and was arguing with his selectors lots of the time. Maybe he should have taken the Laois job while he had the chance. ;)
Great performance from everyone concerned tonight.....
Fair play to Laois tonight. From a position whereby they could not lose to where they really had to dig out the victory. Ok Armagh were missing the Cross boys but Laois showed great character to get the win especially with 14 men. It was poor enough all round but a very important win and I am glad for the players and management because they would have been crucified if they lost after having such a commanding lead.
Tyrone next will be a different story altogether but we're up and running and 2 points better off than this time last year.
Valuable two points that could be a life saver come the end of the League
Just back home. Very decent performance and great to get the win. Will write a proper review later.
having been critical of the team last sunday, I must congratulate them on the honesty of effort, we did ride our luck, but we were due a turn.
we had a better shape than last sunday, though it must be said that Armagh were woeful at midfield and considering we were without our top two in that position, the weakness of the orchard may have covered over some of our cracks.
the positives...o carroll, Kingston and cahillane put in a good shift in the forwards and were always dangerous...Armagh lacked one forward of the same class. although not looking 100% fit I felt that donogher added to the team with some pace and link up play.
finally we scored a penalty!....after 3 big games in a row with failures to convert from the spot(Kildare, antrim and last sunday), that was a cracker of a penalty from cahillane.
some good free taking, cahillane from an awkward angle in the first half, walsh from about 55 yards in the first half, donie from the hands, and as it turned out a fantastic 45 against the wind from o carroll near the end..........I dunno if having so many options for frees or 45s is a good or bad thing,worked out all right tonight.
fitness seemed a little better than last week.
the negatives
our backs looked in trouble when run at, on a bad day like last sunday we could leak a bad score....I think we lack a big physical presence in defence, no idea what/who is the solution.
the newcomers remain with question marks against them, young Farrell did not deserve to be sent off, though he looked naïve at this level. cotter was doing ok as a spoiler as he has done with portlaoise, the Armagh managers complaints may have led to his black card, but his style has you on a tightrope...will need cotter against the likes of cavan....not sure of seale or dillion either in defence.....campion had good and bad moments, very raw at this level.
we may be in a mini league with Armagh,Cavan and Fermanagh....5 points for survival.....away to Cav and Ferm, all to play for.
Hard fought win last night alright. Rode our luck a bit but just about deserved it.
Impressed with Dillon. Carried and linked well.
Donoher put in a huge second half after understandably looking rusty in the first.
Cahillane got man of the match without scoring from play! Had a good game but surely Kingston was head and shoulders over everyone else?
O'Carroll did well at times as did Lillis.
Was Meaney injured does anyone know?
Fair play to the small but select few who made the journey. As away trips go, it's not a bad one, and you'd be there in under 2 and half hours no problem. A very spirited performance against an Armagh side who seem to have inherited all their famous old off the ball tricks. No point getting carried away because they were wasteful and quite poor, but we did what we had to do and fought hard. Referee and linesman got some awful abuse from the home support and their mentors, which was completely out of line. I thought Evan O'Carroll caused them real panic, and seems to be better out the field.
Mick Lillis certainly had an emotional evening. at one point the camera was on him when we were 7 points up and he was smiling broadly and enjoying the game. When Armagh came to within a point of us with a couple of minutes left the camera cut to him again and he was a very worried looking man. It would have been a disaster for him if we had lost that game.
Ah thought great effort by the lads last night. Looked like Armagh were going to do nut they kept in so to go so far ahead and then hold off the comeback all in all a good evening
Was great to see at least some of the mistakes of the last day being corrected. Was delighted to see Cahillane step up to the penalty and he definitely didn't disappoint! Super finish. Some of the long-range free-taking was also superb, particularly Evan O Carrolls 45 against the wind. Miss a couple of these and the two points go to Armagh. These are simple things to plan for and it's good to see that we got it right second time round.
The defensive system was better this time but we did give away a few handy frees which should be avoided. I thought Brody was very good - he learned his lesson from last week too - we was tempted to come a few times for a couple of hanging balls and thought better of it, which was good to see. Timmons was good as usual, Seale was much better this time and I thought Gareth Dillon in particular was very good, especially in the first half. I think the half back line suits him. We gathered up a fair amount of ball in midfield and the forward unit did look very dangerous. Although Donie ended up with a fine personal tally, it's hard not to feel sometimes he has more in him. But overall, the forwards looked very good, especially with O Carroll on the 40.
When you consider that the young lads are getting the experience and we're expecting a few to come back for the Tyrone game, things are looking up.
One other thing - Brody's short kick-outs are great but they are a little dangerous. The ref yesterday game a throw up because the ball hadn't crossed the 13m line (even though it definitely had travelled the required distance). The backroom staff need to make sure to check the referee's interpretation of this rule before every match!! That could also have been a point lost!
Some thoughts. Although much of the talk beforehand was about Armagh missing the Cross lads, Laois were probably missing as many influential players - O'Loughlin, Quigley, Begley, Ross, Meaney (most of the game). Given what we saw, there are plenty of players showing that they are good enough for a starting 15 place - Brody, Timmons, Dillon, Strong and Lillis in the backs, O'Carroll, Cahillane, Kingston and Donoher in the forwards. That means that when O'Loughlin and Quigley come back midfield there are essentially 2 forward spots and 2 corner back spots up for grabs, with Begley and Meaney likely to slot in somewhere. Should result in lots of competition for forward places with Paul Kingston, Lowry, Shiels, the Farrells, Campion, O'Reilly and Ross all likely to be pushing. The two toughest positions on the pitch to cover are the corner back ones. I didn't think young Seale looked that assured yet, early days for him. It was funny to hear the commentator on Setanta say repeatedly how superior Laois were in terms of size and pace compared to Armagh - quite a change from a few years ago. Still not convinced we have enough pace on the team but there is no doubt they tried to play with pace on Saturday which is a good sign. Other than the adoption of the blanket defence and quick break out, not sure Lillis knows what the style and shape of the team will be yet. Tough next game against Tyrone, should be another learning experience ahead of what must be viewed as a series of potentially winnable games - Fermanagh, Derry (home), Cavan and Meath(home).
When you consider that 12 of those who took part on Saturday night weren't on the panel last year ( open to correction ) this was a very good performance.
Ok there were plenty of mistakes but every team made mistakes over the weekend.
It was my first time seeing most of the these young lads and I have to say I was impressed particularly with their pace and workrate, give these lads plenty of games and it's better they'll be getting. Suddenly staying in the group does not seem as important anymore.
To be fair to Mick Lillis I think he knows exact how he's going to play this, defend in numbers,break out in numbers at pace with long kick passing thrown in.
If players get tired or don't track their opponents they are off.
It's early days yet and I'm not one to be getting carried away but it looks like the best injection of good young players for about 8 or 9 years.
We expect big performances from Donie and young O Carroll at this point and as others have already mentioned I to was impressed with Dillon.
Rode our look but got over the line.
Armagh are a very average team and it would have been a disaster to lose to them having gone 7 up
Think the win will give the team more needed confidence
Fought and defended well for most of the game and in Kingston and O'Carroll we have 2 leaders that can
get scores when space is tight.
Getting our midfielders back will make a big difference ..
Well capable of staying in the division as long as the same fight is carried into each game
Dillon was very good going forward, Lillis was good, Donogher was good. Donie mixed it but his accurate passing
into Cahillane is a real plus. We should be able to put up a decent score in any game with our attackers ..
Great win by Laois well done to each and everyone of the Players...
I love when we get written off and come back with a result like that happens time and time again in the league over the last 30 years just a pity not so much in Championship.
My ratings :
Brody 9-Kick outs were superb and he made a great save on 58 minutes with that one just underneath the cross bar against the wind it was a lot harder than it looked.
Seale 7-Delighted he got a second chance did okay bit shakey late on but can hold his head up will only get better!
Timmons 8-Solid as usual did very well has matured into a fine full back reminds me of Eamon Delaney seemed to get better in the latter years
Kehoe 8-One of Laois's best backs against Galway and didn't let Laois down today.
Strong 8-Wasn't at the races for the Galway game and looked off the pace made up for it tonight and defended very well which he often gets stick over.Was strong(excuse the pun)in the tackle and showed leadership with cool passes from the backs.
Cotter 7-Can be happy with his early nights work adds great size to the team and will get better as he goes along.Got the better of McKenna in a lot of 50 50s early and was unlucky to see Black but his tackling must be worked on.
Dillion 8-Shows what hard work and dedication can do this boy has worked his socks off to get on the club team in recent years now he is doing the same for the county.Showed courage on the ball coming out of defense maybe needs to be a little more confident and go direct like O'Leary used too.Must defend a little bit better tho.
Lillis-8 steady in the middle great footballing brain really stood up and showed what he can offer to the Blue and white great to have him and so many of the Town lads back.
Meaney-Not on long enough to rate hope his injury isn't bad.
J.Farrell 7-Did well to cover in midfield after Kevin went off and certainly looked more assured that he did in the Galway game he can only get better.
Kingston-8 Two from play one being a cracker and 3 good frees ..Showed well for the ball and his passing was excellent I'd keep him around the 50 but with such a strong wind i was suprised he wasn't used a bit closer to goal in the first half.
Donoher 8-can beat intercounty experience he bought us so many free's when the team was under pressure was cool on the ball and made the right decisions showed a great level of fitness for a man back form injury.
Cahillane -9 might not have scored from play but was a danger all night took a great Peno and two well struck frees..Well done Paul.
O'Carroll 9-What a talent this boy is so strong in the solo run can kick off either side...Never stop going for the ball and showing for it.Great young talent two from play and a monster 45 against the breeze.
Walsh 7-great free in the first half and he got on a lot of ball ...As he showed against Galway the man they call Physco is up for it this year...Will improve with games.
SUBS
Campion 8- in after 15 minutes and kicked a great score he battled well and will be pushing for a place for sure..Seems to have filled out now and was able to ship the heavy tackles which came his way. Tired late on.
A.Farrell 7-Didn't really stand out but done nothing wrong either kept it simple when he needed to might have to work on upper body size to be able to come out of tackles with the ball.
D'O Connor -7 Was busy in the 18 minutes he was on has experience and doesn't lack guts still an option for a corner back slot in my opinion but maybe management think different.
O'Reilly 7- Again like Farrell needs a bit of work size wise but looks very pacey really put great pressure on the Armagh players harrying them at every chance.Great prospect!
R'O Connor -Be unfair to rate him either way got 10 minutes did nothing wrong and we know how skillful he can be on the ball was always going to be hard for him to have an influence against the wind but the game time will do him no harm.
All in all I'm happy going into the Tyrone game we needed to have at least two points on the board and we do yes the Galway game was a blow but the late come back and this performance will give the management and players a right boost...
Agree with everything you say there Unlaoised, great report..
I thought Strong was very poor and should have been taken off a lot earlier than he was.
Damien O'Connor kicked two bad wides when he came in - he was lucky they didn't come back to haunt us.
Agree on O'Reilly. He was tidy in possession.
More people need to make an effort and get out and support these lads. There was barely anyone in the stand on Saturday night, and the team, no matter how bad they are going, deserve better.
Unfortunately couldn't make the match Saturday night due to work commitments but followed it as much as I could on Twitter . Every point gained in this Division is vital ..its such a tit for tat scenario and in my opinion any team can take points off each other . Tyrone so far look the team that will be the hardest to beat . But that can change very quickly !! The couple weeks break for Laois is both good and bad .. carrying on the momentum from last week would have been nice but hopefully we shall have a few of the absentees back for the Tyrone game which is sure to be a stern test .
I know it's early lads but can anyone see Cotter nailing down down that centre back position ?
Was 15 mins late for the match but good to see us grinding out the win. Armagh will be strong this year, have no doubt about it. That's why I'm very proud of the way we won this match. With 4-5 strong first team starters to come back, it's certainly looking decent if training steps up and if we have good tactics to go with our talent. Would love a couple of stronger, more experienced Corner backs - then the team would really have a lot of shape.
O'Carroll was very good against Galway and even more threatening against Armagh. Walsh, Kingston, Cahilane and O carroll make our forward line a lot more potent compared to recent years. I really just think we're stuck in the corners at the back - Seale is trying his hardest but I think he might be a weak link in the team. I hope I'm proven wrong - the lad is trying his heart out.
With Lillis, quigley, meaney and o loughlin battling for midfield positions, it'll be very interesting to see how we spread the talent. Personally I'd go Quigley and Meaney in Midfield with O Loughlin, Begley and Dillon half back line - Strong to wing forward - his distribution and shooting can be excellent. A few selection headaches in a good way in any case.
Wonder would Begley be worth a try full back with Timmons and Kehoe in the corners? Would certainly not lack for physicality and all 3 are capable of attacking the ball. Biggest criticism of alot of the lads we try in the corners is that they stand to far off their men or don't back themselves for 50:50 balls.
Simple answer to that is : No. No idea why anyone would take Timmons out of the full back role when he owns it and is doing so well there - a problem area for so many teams. Begley would be a good corner back, though. However I think he's too good on the ball and too influential to stick him in there. Much better on the half back line IMO.
Quote from: Tony on February 10, 2016, 04:47:37 PM
Simple answer to that is : No. No idea why anyone would take Timmons out of the full back role when he owns it and is doing so well there - a problem area for so many teams. Begley would be a good corner back, though. However I think he's too good on the ball and too influential to stick him in there. Much better on the half back line IMO.
Was thinking Begley could end up corner back, we have plenty of wing backs, no disrespect to Robbie but at some point against the better teams he's going to end up in front of goal 1 for 1 against a 6 foot 4 full forward. I'd hope Seale would be given plenty of time to settle in same for Cotter.
Begley's a bit of an all rounder all right. Our weak points are mainly at the corner back positions. No disrespect to the lads that are in there - they give their all. Begley could plug a hole there but I don't see it happening.
Never figured Colm Begley as a corner back! He is pretty versatile but corner back in Gaelic football is a pretty specialised position. I doubt he'd be tight enough for that. There are a few in the county. Denis Booth, Hanrahan, Robbie Kehoe (on smaller corner forwards) and Attride could all be candidates in that position. Don't know why Booth/Hanrahan gave it up? Both could add a lot to the panel in my opinion. Seale needs a little time but I think he'll also be a good addition. It is a problem position but I think there are enough decent lads around the county to solve it.
Booth and Hanrahan both tried their very best but were not at the level required, in my opinion. Attride and Keogh will most likely be champoinship corner backs, with Seale and O'Connor (if necessary) as cover.
Team shaping up. Great to see a lot of the Portlaoise lads back. Lillis and Cahilane in particular will prove to be huge players for us this year. It's great to see that our forward line will not be all about the Donie show this year, where teams know who to double mark like in 2015. Now we have Walsh, Cahilane, O carroll all seeming to be in good form. Any word about Ross and his prospects for the year?
Ross on a rehab programme but not that far away...O'Loughlin will be out for another game or two...
I hear that Colm Begley might not be back which is a shame hope the lads get on to him and he has a re-think!
I heard from someone close to the panel that Colm Begley can't get work and might be going away. Hopefully it's not true. If he can't get work you'd think the county board could sort him out with something.
Quote from: south Laois on February 12, 2016, 07:17:16 PM
I heard from someone close to the panel that Colm Begley can't get work and might be going away. Hopefully it's not true. If he can't get work you'd think the county board could sort him out with something.
Was work not part of his transfer from a years ago?
And if the county board are in a position to find work for players I would personally prefer to see those jobs going to intercounty players who still represent clubs within Laois.
Laois played Westmeath Saturday in challenge match in the heath anyone hear any scores or anything..
Laois beat them well Westmeath were without there go to man Heslin but Laois were suppose to have played well...
The score was 2-14 to 0-7 or along them two lines I didn't hear much more only that Kingston got two screamers and Laois looked far fitter
What Westmeath were like I don't know ...Very hard to take anything from these games but you would be worried if the score was the other way around so I suppose it boosts the confidence of the new panel members and can only be good
Football in the midlands is in a very sorry state.
Div2
Laois.
Div3
Offaly, Westmeath, Longford & Kildare.
Div4
Carlow.
Can't remember it this poor before.
Quote from: Dave like the tv channel on February 16, 2016, 04:28:14 PM
Football in the midlands is in a very sorry state.
Div2
Laois.
Div3
Offaly, Westmeath, Longford & Kildare.
Div4
Carlow.
Can't remember it this poor before.
About the same as they always were.
Only difference now is Meath are bad Dublin very good.
Agreed OTF - what a pointless post by Dave. Those teams he mentioned rarely win anything of note. A comment the equivalent to a chocolate teapot.
Can't remember Carlow , Longord , Offaly been in Division 2 the last twenty years bar the odd year . Westmeath go through the 4 divisions regularly . Laois and kildare have constantly flirted with the top two Divisions . Nothing much has changed ! Trying to understand the basis of that above statement !?
Quote from: les Antiques on February 17, 2016, 12:00:36 AM
Can't remember Carlow , Longord , Offaly been in Division 2 the last twenty years bar the odd year . Westmeath go through the 4 divisions regularly . Laois and kildare have constantly flirted with the top two Divisions . Nothing much has changed ! Trying to understand the basis of that above statement !?
This Silly statement but everyone to their own....
I would think Offaly and maybe Longford are in a better place than say 2 years ago..Westmeath are very inconsistent but at least got a win finally against Meath last year and got to a Leinster final...
Laois are Laois we hold our own sometimes put in great performances and sometimes like Antrim last year Flop...
Carlow just don't have the population or talent it seems to ever make a mark hope someday soon i'm proved wrong
I'd say we are every bit as good as the South East Wexford have made fierce backward steps after being a top side for a few years(div 1 final all ireland Semi) and Wicklow are making up the numbers most years with the odd good performance in Leinster.
Going back to Laois I hear Attride is back in with the squad.
Quote from: Dave like the tv channel on February 16, 2016, 04:28:14 PM
Football in the midlands is in a very sorry state.
Div2
Laois.
Div3
Offaly, Westmeath, Longford & Kildare.
Div4
Carlow.
Can't remember it this poor before.
Probably more accurate to say that football is in a sorry state. Realistically out of 33 championship teams only 2 or 3 have a chance in hell of winning Sam (Dublin, Kerry and maybe Donegal or Mayo).
Quote from: blueandwhite1
/quote]
Probably more accurate to say that football is in a sorry state. Realistically out of 33 championship teams only 2 or 3 have a chance in hell of winning Sam (Dublin, Kerry and maybe Donegal or Mayo).
Idiotic posts at the moment lads, there were always 3-5 hot favourites for sam in any given year. 5 years ago there were slightly different hot favourites, 5 years before that, different again, 5 years before that, guess what? Different again.
Kerry, Dublin, Mayo, Donegal, Tyrone, Cork, all have a decent shot at sam. 6 from 33 teams is about average in any sport - look at the Euros in 2016 in a few months - same - only about 6 - 8 teams have a realistic shot of winning.
Let's think before we talk eh.
Great to hear Attride is back - if Colm Begley arrives back before end of league, that would be a massive bonus.
Quote from: Tony on February 17, 2016, 01:49:03 PM
Quote from: blueandwhite1
/quote]
Probably more accurate to say that football is in a sorry state. Realistically out of 33 championship teams only 2 or 3 have a chance in hell of winning Sam (Dublin, Kerry and maybe Donegal or Mayo).
Idiotic posts at the moment lads, there were always 3-5 hot favourites for sam in any given year. 5 years ago there were slightly different hot favourites, 5 years before that, different again, 5 years before that, guess what? Different again.
Kerry, Dublin, Mayo, Donegal, Tyrone, Cork, all have a decent shot at sam. 6 from 33 teams is about average in any sport - look at the Euros in 2016 in a few months - same - only about 6 - 8 teams have a realistic shot of winning.
Let's think before we talk eh.
Great to hear Attride is back - if Colm Begley arrives back before end of league, that would be a massive bonus.
Great news for the Laois footballers according to a twitter account I seen Colm Begley and Conor Merdith have throw in their lot with the Laois footballers!!!
More options if they can get up to speed and O'Loughlin and Quigley get back motoring we will be some powerful team...
Timmons 6-2
Begley 6-2
Cotter 6-2
Seale 6-1
O Loughlin 6-3
Meaney 6-2
Quigley 6-4
Donie 6-5
Lillis 6-2
Merdith 6-2
Farrell 6-2
I know size isn't everything and they might and probably won't all start together but we certainly will be no push over for anyone.
Having Begley, Meredith and Quigley back is a huge bonus for this LAois team.
Big challenges ahead so great to have them.
Excellent if true. Honestly, I think the vast majority of our starters are Div 1 standard. We gotta believe that. We can make a real go of things this year if the setup is right.
We sure can, we are starting to get most of our top players interested in county football again. It will be a test of Mick Lillis's skills now to keep them all interested and even strengthen the squad. I honestly believe that the players are in Laois to compete with most counties if they all really want it.
A good run in the league would work wonders for this squad which would have a good mixture of youth, experience and skill if we get those lads back. Added to that this year we have probably the strongest u-21 squad available to us for quite some time and our minors are shaping up good too..
All is not lost yet lads.. :)
Quote from: Tony on February 17, 2016, 01:49:03 PM
Quote from: blueandwhite1
/quote]
Probably more accurate to say that football is in a sorry state. Realistically out of 33 championship teams only 2 or 3 have a chance in hell of winning Sam (Dublin, Kerry and maybe Donegal or Mayo).
Idiotic posts at the moment lads, there were always 3-5 hot favourites for sam in any given year. 5 years ago there were slightly different hot favourites, 5 years before that, different again, 5 years before that, guess what? Different again.
Kerry, Dublin, Mayo, Donegal, Tyrone, Cork, all have a decent shot at sam. 6 from 33 teams is about average in any sport - look at the Euros in 2016 in a few months - same - only about 6 - 8 teams have a realistic shot of winning.
Let's think before we talk eh.
Great to hear Attride is back - if Colm Begley arrives back before end of league, that would be a massive bonus.
Really, you don't see a gap opening between Dublin and everyone else? Tyrone and Cork look a long way from contenders. Only Donegal, Mayo and Kerry have a fighting chance. There is a big difference between having 6-8 teams capable of winning and 2 or 3.
Quote from: Unlaoised on February 18, 2016, 11:31:57 AM
Quote from: blueandwhite1 on February 18, 2016, 11:22:36 AM
Quote from: Tony on February 17, 2016, 01:49:03 PM
Quote from: blueandwhite1
/quote]
Probably more accurate to say that football is in a sorry state. Realistically out of 33 championship teams only 2 or 3 have a chance in hell of winning Sam (Dublin, Kerry and maybe Donegal or Mayo).
Idiotic posts at the moment lads, there were always 3-5 hot favourites for sam in any given year. 5 years ago there were slightly different hot favourites, 5 years before that, different again, 5 years before that, guess what? Different again.
Both of ye can have claims to be right ...
But I'd prefer to keep this thread about Laois if possible!!!! :D
Kerry, Dublin, Mayo, Donegal, Tyrone, Cork, all have a decent shot at sam. 6 from 33 teams is about average in any sport - look at the Euros in 2016 in a few months - same - only about 6 - 8 teams have a realistic shot of winning.
Let's think before we talk eh.
Great to hear Attride is back - if Colm Begley arrives back before end of league, that would be a massive bonus.
Really, you don't see a gap opening between Dublin and everyone else? Tyrone and Cork look a long way from contenders. Only Donegal, Mayo and Kerry have a fighting chance. There is a big difference between having 6-8 teams capable of winning and 2 or 3.
Both of ye can have claims to be right ...
But I'd prefer to keep this thread about Laois if possible!!!! :D
Great to have Begley, Attride and Meridith back if true. Can anyone confirm it?
Quote from: south Laois on February 18, 2016, 12:51:54 PM
Great to have Begley, Attride and Meridith back if true. Can anyone confirm it?
Yes Confirmed all back this week....
I have to say our panel looks stronger than it has in a long time. Look to be lacking a couple of backs. If it was only possible to clone Cahir Healy!!!
Quote from: south Laois on February 18, 2016, 05:47:31 PM
I have to say our panel looks stronger than it has in a long time. Look to be lacking a couple of backs. If it was only possible to clone Cahir Healy!!!
Aye...and Zac Tuohy too !
Wouldn't that put the tin hat on it 😃
Quote from: The Boy Wonder on February 18, 2016, 11:18:46 PM
Quote from: south Laois on February 18, 2016, 05:47:31 PM
I have to say our panel looks stronger than it has in a long time. Look to be lacking a couple of backs. If it was only possible to clone Cahir Healy!!!
Aye...and Zac Tuohy too !
Wouldn't that put the tin hat on it 😃
I wouldn't rule out Cahir toggling out for the footballers later in the year
Quote from: Unlaoised on February 19, 2016, 04:13:58 PM
Quote from: The Boy Wonder on February 18, 2016, 11:18:46 PM
Quote from: south Laois on February 18, 2016, 05:47:31 PM
I have to say our panel looks stronger than it has in a long time. Look to be lacking a couple of backs. If it was only possible to clone Cahir Healy!!!
Aye...and Zac Tuohy too !
Wouldn't that put the tin hat on it 😃
I wouldn't rule out Cahir toggling out for the footballers later in the year
That thought did strike me ..... work away with the hurlers for now ....give him 15 minuets or so home games for the last few league games .... he's probably be home for the summer ....great.
What an addition Cahir would be. Surely one of our greatest ever defenders. A full back line of Healy, Timmons and Damien O Conner would be fairly solid.
We have the right man at the helm to get him involved anyway, if he can't get him no one will..
Quote from: south Laois on February 18, 2016, 05:47:31 PM
I have to say our panel looks stronger than it has in a long time. Look to be lacking a couple of backs. If it was only possible to clone Cahir Healy!!!
Meredith corner back anyone ??
Nice to see the panel getting stronger. A strong bench is something we haven't had in a while. OTF meredith is a very good footballer but he would be too slow for corner back.
Looking forward to next weekends game. Begley will probably come straight back in, he was very good in the sigerson final.
Begley was outstanding in the Sigerson cup final and might come straight back in maybe to midfield if Meaney and Quigley ain't quite right..O'Loughlin is still out and I think we need Lillis at Centre half back..
Attride will be close to starting as well
Quote from: OTF on February 21, 2016, 11:55:12 AM
Quote from: south Laois on February 18, 2016, 05:47:31 PM
I have to say our panel looks stronger than it has in a long time. Look to be lacking a couple of backs. If it was only possible to clone Cahir Healy!!!
Meredith corner back anyone ??
Meredith far too slow for corner back I think. Don't know if he's back or not but he was very unfit last year. Class footballer alright.
Agreed. A fully fit Conor Meredith would be a big addition to Laois but I think a forward is his best place.
Merideth can be great on his day but I'd have him on the bench for now. He's pretty versatile and can do a job in many positions. Begley and Attride coming back will be massive. The Tyrone game will be very interesting. We can create plenty of probs for them up front but I still think our defence looks far too porous for a quality side like Tyrone - hoping that we've done a lot of tightening in that area. Hopefully we get a good crowd at the weekend - almost all the lads are back and fighting for the jersey.
Quote from: Tony on February 23, 2016, 08:57:44 AM
Merideth can be great on his day but I'd have him on the bench for now. He's pretty versatile and can do a job in many positions. Begley and Attride coming back will be massive. The Tyrone game will be very interesting. We can create plenty of probs for them up front but I still think our defence looks far too porous for a quality side like Tyrone - hoping that we've done a lot of tightening in that area. Hopefully we get a good crowd at the weekend - almost all the lads are back and fighting for the jersey.
This hope we can really turn up in Numbers at the weekend....
As Tony says I worry big time about our backs but I'm sure this has and will be worked on during the week.
We need to be strong in the tackle both with the ball and without it as this is one of Tyrone's real strong points they can turn ball over in a flash and it's so hard to win it back Similar to Donegal and Monaghan.
I would go with
Brody
Seale
Timmo
Attride
Strong
Lillis
Dillion
Meaney/Quigley
Begley/Farrell
O'Carroll
Donie
Donoher
P.Kingston
Walsh
Cahillane
Depending on the u21s against Louth durning the week hopefully we can get a good win there no injuries and O'Carroll Murphy O'Reilly and Collins all play well to give Lillis even more to think about.
I think captain Eoin Lowry has to be involved in the senior set up maybe even Sean Moore if their good enough their old enough!
That defence wouldnt be able to cope with the tyrone attack Unlaoised
I would defo has kehoe in there. Think it would be too much for Seale at this stage to mark the likes of McCurry.
I think begley will go to left half back and Dillon to half forward.
Our half forward line will surely fall back again as per Armagh.
Leaving Walsh, Calihane and Donie up front .. We can score, we know that. Big match for Paul Cahillane up against cynical tyrone corner backs ..
Can we adapt a proper defensive structure against a top team ? Prevent goals .. thats the big question ..
Quote from: ILikeStrawberryJam on February 23, 2016, 01:26:47 PM
That defence wouldnt be able to cope with the tyrone attack Unlaoised
I would defo has kehoe in there. Think it would be too much for Seale at this stage to mark the likes of McCurry.
I think begley will go to left half back and Dillon to half forward.
Our half forward line will surely fall back again as per Armagh.
Leaving Walsh, Calihane and Donie up front .. We can score, we know that. Big match for Paul Cahillane up against cynical tyrone corner backs ..
Can we adapt a proper defensive structure against a top team ? Prevent goals .. thats the big question ..
Forgot all about Robbie Kehoe poor on my behalf yes I'd have him in there somewhere big Ask to put Attride and Begley straight back in after being out of the picture but at least there is options...
Pity O'Loughlin,Quigley,and Meaney are not all flying it I'd really favour us if that was the case...Cotter could be centre back again and Kieran Lillis could get the job of following Sean Kavanagh everywhere!!!
Don't think Cavanagh started the last day did he? I couldn't imagine any of Meredith, Attride or Begley will be given a 1-15 jersey now after not being there all year, it would be unfair. Certainly a positive to have them back however. I'd expect the team to be very similar to what started the last day, perhaps Quigley will be back in.
Tyrone are obviously a obviously a very good team but hopefully the lads will give it a good rattle. I'm sure they will want to atone for the poor performance on their own patch the last time out!!
Any rumblings of a team for Sunday?
Can't see us winning Sunday but if we put in a good performace and run them close, i'd be impressed. Weather should be cold but dry on Sunday. It'll be excellent to see where we're at against very good opposition. Hopefully Evan is back to the panel shortly after injury.
Anyone know how serious Evans injury is or how long he's likely to be out for? At such a young age he really is becoming a real leader for us.
No Laois team named yet but Sean Kavanagh returns for Tyrone.
Quote
Sean Cavanagh comes in to the Tyrone team for his first 2016 league start as Mickey Harte makes four changes from the side that beat Galway for Sunday's game against Laois.
Hugh Pat McGeary and Barry Tierney replace Ronan McNamee and Rory Brennan in defence while Cavanagh and Mark Bradley come into attack with Padraig McNulty and Conor McAliskey moving to the bench.
Tyrone:
M O'Neill;
A McRory, C McCarron, HP McGeary;
T McCann, J McMahon, B Tierney;
C Cavanagh, M Donnelly;
N Sludden, M Bradley, C Meyler;
D McCurry, S Cavanagh, R O'Neill.
Interesting game yesterday. Good and bad.
I thought Mick Lillis was very consistent with his views by resisting the temptation to introduce U-21s. We did look a lot stronger with some of the stalwarts back even though they all need game time for fitness and sharpness. Considering that we are still missing quite a few it does appear that we have much more strength and depth than in previous years. Defensively we were very good for most of the game, very impressive in periods. Allowed them to run at us for 10 minutes after the break which is where we lost the game. We also competed well at midfield when required. If we are going to play blanket defence, we also need to learn to play against blanket defences. We didn't seem to have any idea what to do with the ball when faced with a wall of defenders which means that our conversion rate for chances was way too low. If they can learn from this and continue to improve the transition from defence into attack then this team has real prospects. Tyrone in contrast use pace and patience to break down defences. They either run around the rim at pace looking for an opening or they hit to a pacy runner who finds a yard or two to strike. We on the other hand tended to either play the ball in too early or just stop running making it easy to defend against. In short, we struggle to play in a crowd.
Individually, I thought there were plenty of stand out performances. David Seale had a fine game and is really growing. When he attacks the ball he is very effective and didn't look at all out place. Cotter slotted in well for Timmons (injured?). Robbie Keogh was again hugely influential in the high turnover rate. Lillis neutralized Cavanagh for the first half. Begley was excellent in general. Quigley won lots of ball but also made some awful passes. O'Loughlin was very dominant in the first half but seemed to run out of steam early. Donie did well in parts and won some great ball but he, Cahillane and Gary Walsh struggle with well organized defences. Donoher ran all day but again didn't seem to know what to do when he got beyond the 45. Conor Meredith struggled but will get better.
The big plus for me was the character and spirit of the team throughout. From how they defended in the first half to how they tore into Tyrone for the last 10 minutes and almost salvaged a draw. Didn't see who missed the goal chance but it was a real opportunity. We also were physically strong and becoming a very fit team. Considering we will have Timmons, Attride, Meaney, Evan O'Carroll, Ross and a few more U21s available later in the year, things are not so bad.
Great report, Blueandwhite. Your analysis includes some tactical analysis which a lot of posters are unable to see for themselves when they view a match. Things are looked OK - Tyrone are the best team in the League for my money. Let's not get complacent, we are good enough to stay up. We really need to make it count against the likes of Cavan and Meath.
Next week is massive now...
The lads can take great heart from a performance like that.
Spells in the first half were like a championship game it was that pacey and intense..
Colm Begley was superb...cotter seale and Lillis were also very good.
Paul Kingston and Rory O'Connor were decent as impact subs..Quigley was superb all be it a bit rusty on the ball ..
Thought Brody's kickouts were outstanding
A lot to be pleased about and a bit of luck at then end we could have snatched a late goal but for a great save.
Very good performance. Everyone fought until the end. Lost their way a bit in the 3rd quarter but came back strongly. Moved the ball very well at times but occasionally resorted to long hopeful balls into the full forward line which Tyrone lapped up.
they are so well drilled and never seem to switch off or hesitate. When they attack runners go each side of the ball. We still don't do that every time. I think that's why Niall donoher and Paul cahillane seemed to be running aimless at times, they had no support. Not picking on him cos i thought he gave an outstanding display but as an example at 1 stage in the 1st half Robbie kehoe handpassed to Niall donoher on our half forward line under the stand. He immediately turned and started trotting back leaving Niall with no support. 3 Tyrone players forced Niall into the corner and turned over the ball. They then immediately attacked at pace and scored. In a similar situation their cornerback would have continued running to support and his position would be covered. It's a tough disciplined game they play. You need to be extremely fit, fully focussed and prepared to work. It will take our lads a while to completely tune in but they showed signs yesterday they can play that type of game to a decent level.
big game now next week
Great comments lads and I fully agree with blue and white in everything he says. I think this is the strongest squad we have had for a long time and they never gave up even when the game seemed well out of their reach. I was very happy with that performance and to run a team like that so close says a lot for them. After they scored the goal I thought we would lie down and take the beating but we actually improved and we held them scoreless in that final 29 minutes.
During that time we also missed three very scorable points and with a bit of luck could have had the ball in the back of the net. Our subs all performed very well and with the return of a few more we will also have a reasonably strong bench to pick from which will keep everyone on their toes. This team will only get better and they need all of our support. Lets get behind them and maybe we can get a few more good days up in Croker....
Would also agree with the comments above.
It was a good performance and the lads showed a belief in their own abilities, which was really good to see. I was really impressed with Quigley and JOL back together against a much vaunted Tyrone pairing (in fairness, Donnelly did well too). Shows that in that department, we're as good as anyone. I was also very surprised at Begley's performance in his own full-back line. The idea of playing Begley on the full-back line was mentioned on here some time ago and to be honest I thought it was a mad idea. However, he did really well there on Sunday.
Having said all that, I think we can learn a lot from the quality of Tyrone's link-up play, which really showed what a well-coached team they are. If we could get the ball moving a little quicker with better movement from the advanced players, we could be a lot more dangerous.
Still, there is progress to be seen and that's positive. Funny how there's always less commentary after a decent performance.......
To be honest I thought the final score flattered us somewhat, we were poxed not to concede a second goal and it looked like Tyrone took their foot off the gas. Having said that they were hanging on for dear life at the end.
Tyrone positioned all their big men around the D and rarely did any of them go forward, in trying to break them down we had to commit a lot of bodied forward,when the inevitable turn over arrived we were unable to cope with the speed of their counterattack. We have the big men to play this game also what we were lacking Sunday was real pace, Farrell and O Carroll were a big loss in that regard.
Lillis in fairness put in OConnor and O Reilly to thy and counteract the pace and these changes may have helped wit our comeback.
Now that we're warming to the idea of Beagle in the fullback line I'd like to see Meredith get a run there , strong and aggressive and he ain't a forward. :)
Quote from: OTF on March 01, 2016, 01:35:40 PM
To be honest I thought the final score flattered us somewhat, we were poxed not to concede a second goal and it looked like Tyrone took their foot off the gas. Having said that they were hanging on for dear life at the end.
Tyrone positioned all their big men around the D and rarely did any of them go forward, in trying to break them down we had to commit a lot of bodied forward,when the inevitable turn over arrived we were unable to cope with the speed of their counterattack. We have the big men to play this game also what we were lacking Sunday was real pace, Farrell and O Carroll were a big loss in that regard.
Lillis in fairness put in OConnor and O Reilly to thy and counteract the pace and these changes may have helped wit our comeback.
Now that we're warming to the idea of Beagle in the fullback line I'd like to see Meredith get a run there , strong and aggressive and he ain't a forward. :)
Didn't think the scoreline flattered us we matched them for the first half and Mickey Harte himself said he thought they were fortunate to be ahead at half time...
Not sure what happened for that 15 minutes spell after half time but it seem to come from our forwards letting the man out too easy but Tyrone got away with fouling the ball for the goal the man took 11 steps beating two Laois players before soloing it which opened up the whole picture..
Thought Brody did well for the second scramble and a shot before that..
That Said kingston had a great chance for a goal with about 10 minutes left and Laois also worked another goal chance that lead to a Ruari O Connor point.
Without repeating myself I think its a performance all the players should take great heart from.
Fermanagh might have a great home record of late but we have the players back now to trouble them and I think we can sneak the two points that will be on offer!
Fermanagh since 2014 in Enniskillen have beaten Meath, Louth,Tipperary Limerick,Sligo,Wexford, Offaly, in the league at home In the championship They have beaten Antrim twice,Roscommon once...They have lost just two games being Antrim in Championship and Roscommon in the league in that time.
In our last meeting we beat them it was Championship in June 2014 we beat them 1-19 to 2-15 in O'Moore park.
Laois team that day was
LAOIS: G Brody; P McMahon, D Booth, P O'Leary; D Strong (0-03, 2 45), P Begley (0-01), C Begley (0-01); C Meredith (0-02), J O'Loughlin; J Finn, R Munnelly (0-04, 2f), N Donoher; B Sheehan (1-00), D Kingston (0-06, 1f), D Conway (0-01).
Subs: K Meaney (0-01) for Finn (29); S Attride for Conway (49); C Coss for O'Loughlin (52); D O'Connor for Sheehan (70).
We played them in 2009 at home in the league on a Saturday eveing if my memory serves me right we battered them...
Just remember Team being along the lines of Nolan, P Begley,(Full back can't remember)Stapelton, Rooney,Reddin ,McMahon,Clancy,Meaney,Bruno,Quigley,Sheenan,Mj,Ross,Donie
Anyone shed and more light?
Quote from: Unlaoised on March 02, 2016, 09:43:44 AM
Quote from: OTF on March 01, 2016, 01:35:40 PM
To be honest I thought the final score flattered us somewhat, we were poxed not to concede a second goal and it looked like Tyrone took their foot off the gas. Having said that they were hanging on for dear life at the end.
Tyrone positioned all their big men around the D and rarely did any of them go forward, in trying to break them down we had to commit a lot of bodied forward,when the inevitable turn over arrived we were unable to cope with the speed of their counterattack. We have the big men to play this game also what we were lacking Sunday was real pace, Farrell and O Carroll were a big loss in that regard.
Lillis in fairness put in OConnor and O Reilly to thy and counteract the pace and these changes may have helped wit our comeback.
Now that we're warming to the idea of Beagle in the fullback line I'd like to see Meredith get a run there , strong and aggressive and he ain't a forward. :)
Not sure what happened for that 15 minutes spell after half time but it seem to come from our forwards letting the man out too easy but Tyrone got away with fouling the ball for the goal the man took 11 steps beating two Laois players before soloing it which opened up the whole picture..
Make no mistake they blew us away during that spell, from the 30 minute of the first half until 60 minute went from 1st gear to 4th looked like.
But hey ....they are a top team that's what you'd expect.
Fermanagh are nearer to our level won't have as much pace should be close.
If anyone is heading to Enniskillen this weekend a few places to head for drinks would be The Devenish and Crows Nest both central enough and for some food Cafe Merlot is quite good and all these are walking distance to Brewster Park .
Not an easy place to go but its welcoming to see Lillis getting everyone back on board this year . Let's Keep the positivity going and as another poster mentioned Fermanagh in many ways are similar to us and we can definitely break that 2 year home unbeaten record they have .
It will be another battle but with Quigley,Meredith and Begley having a game under there belts a win and performance Sunday is on the cards .
Heard Blakes Bar on the hollow serves up a mean pint of stout.....
Could be a right little road trip!Might see if I can get up there nice spin.Pity its not a Saturday night game!
Would recommend the front bar in blames of the hollow.
Great pint.
Club house will be open on match day .
Hi Fermgael how far is the pitch from the town?
Pitch is very close to the town.
You can't miss it.
Does anyone think the county board should start putting on buses for away games. I think Monaghan do this and charge a nominal fee to cover the cost of the bus ie. it's not a money making exercise. Surely this would be worth trying to get more support for the lads.
That's a great idea South Laois.
It's a no brainer really. What's the cost of a bus nowadays? Even if only half full they wouldn't be losing a whole pile. If people got used to the fact that a supporters bus was going to every game it wouldn't be half empty for long.
What's the cost? A couple of hundred quid?
Great idea South Laois . It's becoming a coming trend by all accounts among counties in recent times. Not done enough in Laois . I recall been on bus during the Colm Brownes first era , actually first campaign and travelling to Salthill in one of the latter league matches that particular year . Two buses left Portlaoise that morning and we had great support up there that day . It ended up been a draw against a good Galway team . ;D
Quote from: south Laois on March 03, 2016, 01:29:54 PM
Does anyone think the county board should start putting on buses for away games. I think Monaghan do this and charge a nominal fee to cover the cost of the bus ie. it's not a money making exercise. Surely this would be worth trying to get more support for the lads.
Yeah Portlaoise do this for games in Leinster and it drums up great support...Be a great day out a few pints meet other Laois people whats not to like???
It would be great if this could get off the ground. I would ask anybody who knows someone on the county board to put this idea forward to them.
You could probably email the PRO for information or to suggest the idea.
I don't really know anyone there anymore anyone got access to the Laois Facebook page maybe post it there or PM them??
We need to speak to the right people in with the necessary authority to make this happen. Such a great idea - we need to make this happen. Even if it's just put up for 2 away League games this year as a trial. Tickets for the bus to go on sale a few days before so they can estimate how many they need.
Haven't lost to Fermanagh since 1993
Massive game. Badly need a win here. Win and we're looking to the top half, lose and we're looking at the Meath and Cavan games with worry.
Jesus, presume it was as bad to watch as it was to listen to. An absolute hiding. Manager sent to the stands on Fermanagh player scoring 1-11. After all the positive vibes from here I was starting to get excited about the championship and feel like i got punched in the stomach.
Was at the game today. I would say between twenty and thirty Laois people at the game which was disappointing!
To the game itself. Very poor in our middle third, half back midfield and half forward! Not tracking runners, poor passing and some not giving the proper pass! Their goal game as a result of us kicking the ball straight to them! In our forward line we had no plan. It was depressing ! Conor meridith was probably our best player! A few of them need to improve big time if we are going to stay in this division.
A few footnotes: I herd from two people at the game that the team travelled up on the morning of the game, pure madness . Not saying this is reason that we lost but it's so amatur !
Second thing I notice was that boscos catering was there! Was the team fed out of a van or did they get properly fed in a hotel? I taught in this day and age that hotel meals and over night stays are a given! Obviously I was wrong. These may be small things to some but im sure any serious county would not tolerate that set up. I'm not blaming management but county board might need to take a look at how it spends 600k on Laois teams each year!!
Next up Derry! It will be interested to see the reaction. Can't understand why Dillion didn't start , he did ok when came on. Gary Walsh didn't play at all, injured?
I went to the game yesterday too. I can't believe the team travelled up on the day. I left at 10 to be there for 1, which potentially means they left at 8.30 or less to get in a warm up, with some of them getting up at 6.30/7 to make the coach. I'm not saying either that we lost because of that because we were totally outplayed, but what a shocking way to run a county set up. The performace was abysmal. It was too bad to make sense of, and we would beat nobody for the rest of the year if we ever played like that again. Terrible pitch. Fermanagh fit as fleas and prepared to run themselves to a standstill. Great movement and passing from them but we were not much better than statues. We just couldn't keep up with them as time after time they ran at us. I thought we looked tired or over trained, but you just can't ask lads to get off a coach after 3 hours and play a serious game of football. This is how Carlow prepare, and that's where we'll be heading if we do the same things. A game best forgotten. Zero positives.
If it is true that they only got up to the match that morning then it is completely shambolic.
The players and management team shouldn't have stood for it and demanded they be put up overnight, there is no way they could have been at 100% and they should have known this beforehand. County board taking the p*ss again.
Laois football doing what it does best....inconsistency with a capital I. After two impressive results against northern oppositiion they serve up yesterdays performance.
The bus going in the morning is an elephant in the room. Surely if it was that big of an issue the management and/or players would have had something to say about it so I wouldn't be leaving that one solely at the CB's door.
Disappointing afternoon in Ennniskilen to say the least . Long journey home after that performance .
Laois looked tired , flatfooted while Fermanagh looked very fit and seemed to have a lot of training behind them. Corrigan for his size is very useful and will continue to cause defenders problems in Ulster this year . We were very loose it must be said and some of lads need a lot more football before championship in May . Understandable as the likes of Begley , Quigley and Merdith have only just returned and can't have played much football in 2016 .
I can't see us playing this bad against Derry next week . There has to be a reaction of some sort . Talking to some Fermanagh lads afterwards and they mentioned they were a little surprised by Laois's somewhat lackadaisical approach yesterday .
Derry , Cavan and Meath left , dogfight for Division 2 status now .
Let's just hope that there's some serious heavy training going on at the moment. Who do you think is the leading brains behind the operation for Laois Football 2016? Is it Lillis or is there some other mastermind trainer in there?
the way i see it is two abysmal performances & two decent ones.. we need at least 5 points maybe 6 to stay up meaning next sunday is a must win, Looking at westmeath's demise hope we survive. This level of football really showed where your at it, Division 3 & 4 is hit & miss imo. Get it hard to see us picking up anything in Breffni park, So our two home games are vital.. Mick Lillis says he has no pitch to train football on this from intercounty setup sounds hard to believe. Know weather has been poor surely an astro surface would be available for ball work..
I think we're in a bit of a vicious circle. Money coming in is limited so investment in the team is hit. Even gear seems to be in short enough supply from what I can see. People who belittle the effect that travelling up on the morning had on the team obviously didn't make the journey. It was a long, boring journey and I down know how you'd want to kick football after it. These are young fit lads who probably don't think like that, but I think it's amateurish to think you can walk off a bus and beat a team in their own backyard who haven't lost there for 2 years. Even a night game would be different because the extra few hours would help you to get up for the game. I think it was a shocking decision whoever made it, and shows us up in a very poor light.
We're not as bad as we showed Sunday. We're a Division 3 side in the making, fair enough, but there's more to us than we showed Sunday. We have to believe that the two home games are winnable. Based on the Tyrone performance, I think we can win both games. The centre half back position is a real problem. Teams are just coming down the middle in waves, almost like they know we're leaky there. We need a real physical presence to shore up that area. I'd go as gar as to put a sweeper in font of the half back line, because it seems to be our Achilles heel. The pressure on the full back line because of mistakes by the half back line is killing us.
Very hard to take any positives from the game ...
We were just flat from the word go ...I don't think preparation was the best ..IE journey up and food etc...I was tired after travelling up and I left at 9.30am and stopped in Ballinagh for a breakfast about 11am..
Meredith probably the best although Donie did his best and Paul got two nice scores...The back looked like lads that were on the piss the night before and were blowing hard after ten minutes...
Quigley strong etc should have used their experience then and slowed the game down be it with a scuffle or something as it was obivious we were going to be bet in the first half the way they were running at us.
Haven't heard lillis interview yet but if we are travelling up the morning of games to a place nearly three hours away and have no pitch to train on then we are only going one way...
The Kerry Hurling team stayed in the maldron a few weeks back when playing us here!!
Says it all really!
To be honest, the after match interview by Lillis was as worrying as the match itself. Brings up valid questions of his competency as an inter-county manager IF it's true that
A: We travelled up on the morning of the game of Fermanagh and
B: That we can't even find and use a suitable pitch to play football on to train. This isn't U-12 club football.
Here's the interview.
https://soundcloud.com/midlandssport/mick-lillis-post-fermanagh-in-the-nfl
There should be no excuses in this county about training facilities; Dont we have Heywood? I know the hurlers use it but why cant the footballers do the same? if not isnt there a field in clonad that was used for county hurling training with state of art lights?
Look I realise that money is an issue in Laois however I think that the officers in charge of Laois GAA are been lazy in their fundraising efforts: Why not set up a senior football training fund like there was in Micko's time and raise money for the panel. Why not be ambitious and set a target of 100k. This money would be used for trips away like last sunday and quality meals after training/games as per micko's time.
Here's my suggestion on how this money could be raised.
Target 1,000 to pay €100 (This could be done by targeting Laois people living outside laois!)
or through business both inside and outside of laois that have Laois connections.
eg big business tesco/hotels/car dealerships etc 20 x 1,000 = 20,000
smaller business putting in €100 per business. Business's could be rewarded with complimentary tickets to home games and tickets to championship matches.
Link in with the Laois association in Dublin and hold a corporate lunch. There are lots of Laois people in business who have pride in the county that would help out!
Its only a couple of suggestions , All it needs is someone to take the bull by the hands and drive it forward. We could spend the next year feeling sorry for ourselves or we could get off our arses and do something about the lack of money available to the team.
Lillis said in the interview
I don't know, I don't know what happened
Mick your the manager, FIX IT
Quote from: goal 10 on March 08, 2016, 11:24:58 PM
Lillis said in the interview
I don't know, I don't know what happened
Mick your the manager, FIX IT
He didn't say, "I don't know what happened and I don't know what I'm going to do".
Things happen on the field and managers may have prepared perfectly for the match, but it all falls flat. Sh*t happens. Let's see what the reaction is.
Beano's post got no reaction here but I would have thought that targets like this should be set by the administrators of the game in the county. It certainly seems very plausible to me and just needs a bit of organisation and effort. Don't really see why we're not working on that.
I also can't for the life of me understand how it is that the county football team doesn't have a pitch to train on? Could that actually be true?
Look I think the prep might have something to do with this result and I have a gut feeling we can do much better against Derry infact I think we will get a reaction and beat the Oakleaf.Yes I might seem optimistic but Fermanagh is gone now hopefully there will be lessons learned giving the ball away nearly 30 times in an inter-county game is unforgivable and I think the players know we can't see that again.
This group has and talent and a great pride among themselves and I fully believe we will see a response on Sunday.
Mick Lillis himself will have learned lesson's maybe it would be better if he didn't speak to Jack after the games so soon when he doesn't have any answers as such and his head is still in a blur.
Still its beats listening to TOF "Well listen you know I Suppose"God thats all the man said used drive me insane.
Derry have their own troubles and the pressure is on them as well...Loose to us and they are stuck on four points with Meath and Armagh to play and could be dragged into a dog fight.Damien Barton is getting a lot of stick at the minute.This would not have been in their plans at the start of the year when they and a lot of other people would have really fancied them to join Tyrone in division one.They conceded 21 points against Tyrone and Galway and by all accounts were very lucky to win in Cavan.
Lets see how this game pans out we know Derry have a few fine footballers.
Interesting to note from them two epic minor semi finals in 2007 what players are still playing senior football...
Laois team for the drawn game in croker 2-12 to 1-15 with Laois coming back from the dead Zac scoring two late goals
Laois: C O'Shea; R Kehoe, J Mulhare, J O'Connor; K Lillis, C Boyle, Z Tuohy (2-01, 1 '45'); D Lowry, J O'Loughlin; S Ramsbottom, E Kelly (0-01), B Smyth; J Doyle, C Meredith (0-02), D Kingston (0-06, 0-03f).
Subs used: K Farrell (0-02) for Lowry (23 mins), B Glynn for Kelly, K Hyland for Doyle (both 55), S Miller for Smyth (59).
I make it Laois have five players still playing most of these lads are around 26/27 now Robbie Kehoe,Kieran Lillis,John O'Loughlin,Conor Meredith and Donie Kingston.
Derry have also five of their starting line up that day still involved being Chrissy McKaigue,James Kielt,
Cailena O'Boyle,Neil forester,and Daniel Heavron.
highlights
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qnnNYurWFYA
18.33 in for one of the best Laois goals I've ever seen...
Yer man at 20:42 liked a burger.
Lillis, so far, just seems very re-active, and not pro-active. We need someone to make things happen for us, not complain and give excuses when things don't happen - like no field, or not knowing why things went wrong or even WHERE they went wrong. He should be MAKING things happen.
Maybe I'm being too harsh - I know it's early days. Willing to give him the benefit of the doubt, but this is a strong panel we hve this year - the lads deserve a good set up in there to give us a good chance of performing well this year.
Good point Tony, probably the strongest panel we have for the past ten years.
There must be some pitch available, Crettyard is as good a pitch as you would get anywhere..
I agree with Unlaoised I feel we will win on Sunday v Derry.
Guys will be kicking themselves this week after a poor showing against Fermanagh.
They will be eager to put it right. If we can match the intensity that occured against Tyrone, we will win.
Home advantage counts for a lot.
Will be hard to nick victory in Breffni Park so its vital we grab 4 points against both Derry and Meath.
I agree Tony, Lillis post match interview appear don't inspire confidence
I wasn't there but the Fermanagh defeat was very worrying.
To get annihilated by an average team like Fermanagh isn't good enough.
Then for Lillis to say he was worried when he saw sean Quigley wasn't playing ..
Wtf does that mean , worried that THEIR main man wasn't playing ..
We have forwards who can score .. We need a proper defensive structure
Anyone know if attride is back ? Derry have some good forwards ..
We did get trounced by Cavan last year by 12 points but then went out and bet Roscommon by 7 ..who knows what Sunday will bring ..
Good entertainment today but 1: We seriously need to tighten up at the back and 2: No idea where the referees head was today - some decisions were mind boggling. Evan O' Carroll is developing into a serious talent. Also thought Quigley and O'Loughlin had great games.
We're too slow! Most teams run from deep with huge pace these days. Our half forward, midfield and half back line can't keep up with them. When you have this deficiency you have to organise a defensive unit, it's the only option. I have my doubts that the manager we have has the ability to implement the system needed but I'm hope he can prove me wrong. He hasn't learned anything yet anyway but I suppose he has an excuse cause we haven't played any football yet, it's mid-March!!!!!
Shocking lack of nous from our backs when we went three up at the end. A bit of Tyrone type cynicism was required. Take the black card and move on with a win in your back pocket. Beyond frustrating.
A few good performances. O'Loughlin seems to coming back to his best level. O'Carroll and Kingston are pure class. Donoher worked his socks off. Quigs did well.
Crazy stuff there yesterday. Defending from both sides was Under 8 standard. We were marginally the better side and our commitment to the game was admirable, but with more composure and some sort of defensive plan, we should have won the game. If I were Lillis, I would ask Cheddar and Healy if he fancied the Meath game. I don't know Armaghs fixtures, but if it comes down to a straight shoot out between us and Meath, we could do with Healy in the backs. Based on what I saw of Derry yesterday, there is every possibility that Meath will get a result against them, although I'm hoping they might be better in Celtic Park. Very unlikely we will get anything in Cavan.
Any news on Kieran Lillis? I hope he makes a quick recovery
Quote from: High Fielder on March 14, 2016, 08:31:28 AM
Crazy stuff there yesterday. Defending from both sides was Under 8 standard. We were marginally the better side and our commitment to the game was admirable, but with more composure and some sort of defensive plan, we should have won the game. If I were Lillis, I would ask Cheddar and Healy if he fancied the Meath game. I don't know Armaghs fixtures, but if it comes down to a straight shoot out between us and Meath, we could do with Healy in the backs. Based on what I saw of Derry yesterday, there is every possibility that Meath will get a result against them, although I'm hoping they might be better in Celtic Park. Very unlikely we will get anything in Cavan.
Any news on Kieran Lillis? I hope he makes a quick recovery
Armagh are away to Tyrone, then home to Derry.
The way the fixtures and results have worked out, it looks as though, if we beat Meath in the last game, we'll stay up.
I honestly think it's going to take more than the return of Healy to solve the defensive situation . Quality player that he is , our set up is all over the place . Conceding 5 goals against an average Derry forward line is worrying . Our vulnerability is there for all to see and needs serious attention because we are not going to be scoring 1-22 in every game this year .
OCarroll and Donie will be formidable this summer and the return to form of OLoughlin is encouraging. Hope Lillis injury isn't too serious and the chap recovers . Looked very nasty .
Is it true that Lillis suffered a broken leg?
He will be a loss if so.
Was Robbie Kehoe's absence after the black card a factor in conceding those goals. He's been playing well so curious to know if his loss had a big affect?
Firstly tho' I hate to go on about ref's, he was diabolical. It's been a long time since I've seen referring as bad as that. Robbie kehoe was on his way to becoming "man of the match when" his man got a few steps in front of him. Robbie tried to trip him with his foot but completely missed but was reported by the linesman and the ref saw fit to award him a black card. Why...? ? ?
Evan was blatantly dragged down in the goalmouth in the first half and was fouled in the square in the second and all we got from those two incidents was.... a forty meter free ? ? ? A ball was blocked by Strong's leg about five meters away from where it was kicked and because it was in the square he awards Derry a penalty..? ?? ?? I'll stop now although there were loads more ridiculous decisions like that.
I thought it was the best performance by our lads from an attacking point of view for ages but we certainly will have to defend better than that. It seemed like they could score goals at will whenever they came at us but we created lots of goal scoring chances ourselves throughout the game. We are getting there and maybe a spell in Div 3 might not be a bad thing. Look what it did for Roscommon ..
Why do we always talk about bringing different personnel when we are struggling defensively? It is 90% a problem with shape, planning and drilling. With Brody, Attride, Seale, Timmons, Keogh, Dillon, Lillis, Strong, Cotter and Begley, we have enough defenders and plenty of pace, athleticism and power. Also plenty of pace for lads covering back with O'Carroll, Donoher, O'Connor etc. All the top teams have a plan and some manage to punch way above their weight because of it. The plan ensures that if ball is played through the hands that you will be surrounded by 2-3 players before you get past the 45. There will always be 2 blockers and disruptive runner to stop lads walking into the scoring zone and the rest of the players filter back to prevent easy shots in the scoring zone. All division 1 teams and most division 2 teams have this worked out. Tyrone will always be competitive because they work to this process. Everyone knows their job. The only man to come close to addressing this has been McNulty. All the other managers including Micko, Kearns, Dempsey and O'Flaharta didn't get this right and I would worry about Lillis. He should already be developing this system given that we are so far into the league. Tom Cribben is putting it in place over in Westmeath. In a nutshell, Laois are a mile behind again in tactical planning
With respect Junior, a spell in Div 3 would not be good for Laois. Roscommon are an exception. The only reason they're excelling is because of proper planning, a good set up and excellent tactics. If we had that, we should be looking at being promoted to Div 1 next year, not playing in a poor Div 3. I strongly believe that we have the talent and should be challenging for promotion to Div 1. We need good setup and tactics. Strongest panel in years and we better NOT have the worst setup and management in years. Enough messing, let's cop on and set ourselves up properly.
McNulty would have made hay with this squad. We have nearly everyone available, young players coming through that are adding a lot, competition for places, problem is we have an amateur set up. We could be wasting our best opportunity in years.
There's no guarantee that McNulty would have had the same level of committment. Alot of lads were fed up of his tactics the same as the supporters.
We are where we are so there isn't much point lamenting about McNulty. I for one am not sorry to see his style of play gone. Is he even managing now?
Personally I would rather have the unpredictable Laois we have now than go back to the McNulty days.
Quote from: redsetanta on March 14, 2016, 04:54:10 PM
There's no guarantee that McNulty would have had the same level of committment. Alot of lads were fed up of his tactics the same as the supporters.
We are where we are so there isn't much point lamenting about McNulty. I for one am not sorry to see his style of play gone. Is he even managing now?
Personally I would rather have the unpredictable Laois we have now than go back to the McNulty days.
It wasn't always perfect under McNulty but people have short memories. It wasn't always ultra defensive and we had some great victories. We got promoted to division 1 in 2011, scoring 6-98 and getting notable wins against Meath, Derry (away by 14 points) and Donegal. In 2012 we got relegated from division one but we competed well, could anyone see that happening now? In 2013 we beat Armagh scoring 20 points, Galway by 8, we finished on 9 points.
In the championship we had great wins such as against Monaghan by 2 goals, beating Meath in Tullamore, Wexford away and giving Dublin and Donegal really good games. We were also banging in massive scores against lesser opposition. Before and after McNulty we got knocked out by Tipperary! Last year it was Antrim. We actually got to a quarter final under McNulty, when will that happen again?
Well said stad! about time someone on this site started talking sense!!! I have always said it, We were too quick to let McNulty go. It was people not going to games that wanted him gone. Anyone who knew anything about football knew he was getting the best out of what he had. An 1/4 final and a defeat to donegal wasnt bad. Kicking football into late July early august is alot better than going out in early june to Antrim!!
In a nutshell, Laois are a mile behind again in tactical planning
YOU CAN SAY THAT AGAIN.
The players like to attack the supported like it Jack Nolan likes it, judging by the reaction here and on the old Laoistalk forum all hate defensive foorball it seems to be somehow beneath us,it's a culture thing.
There's no doubt it has being an awfull week defensively fo Laois football, maybe now the penny will finally drop, if it doesn't I dread to think what the summer might bring.
All is not lost, its evident from Wednesday and yesterday we now have serious attacking talent and I would argu it's a hell of a lot easier to set up a defensive system than turn defenders into attackers,
ask Mayo.
Derry and Tyrone have big parts to play in the relegation stakes , Tyrone will want to keep winning but may not have their best team in action against Armagh and Fermanagh.We need Armagh to be beaten next next round and hope we can beat Meath
I think lillis deserves credit for assembling this squad, He should be only judged after the season obviously would be great to stay in division 2, talks of mcnulty is pointless the football we played was depressing.
Quote from: From the Terrace on March 15, 2016, 10:01:08 AM
I think lillis deserves credit for assembling this squad, He should be only judged after the season obviously would be great to stay in division 2, talks of mcnulty is pointless the football we played was depressing.
This is a good point...
Mcnulty was got rid of too quickly but lets concentrate on the future...
Lillis is a good man and getting great commitment from nearly all our top players ...
If we just got someone else on board and maybe an outsider to t**ker with defensive tactics there has to be men out there that would be interested in coming on board....
I think a slight change like this to the backroom staff and a little bit more professionalism and we could have a good year as we defo have the talent there to work with.
I agree that McNulty did bring some success early on but the football we played during his last year was depressing and the supporters turned away in droves. I have to admit I stopped going to some of the matches as there was just no enjoyment watching 14 lads in your own half. There has to be some enjoyment in it.
This is the best bunch of attacking players we've had for a while. Defensively we need a lot of work and the jury is out on whether Lillis has the smarts to develop a proper defensive plan. If we develop a decent defensive plan we are capable of beating most teams. O Carroll is a revelation and a lot of good u21 coming thru ..
We are a bit green at the moment .. Tyrone would have taken the heads of those Derry lads when it became obvious they were gonna try run thru for goals at every opportunity.
The crowds have come back in their thousands since McNulty left! The stand was crowded against Derry.
If people prefer to get beaten by Antrim and Tipperary then fair enough but I prefererred watching us get to an All Ireland quarter final and putting it up to the bigger teams in late July.
Anyway, as has been said, we have to move on. We have our most talented squad in a good few years. Let's hope Lillis can learn and tighten things up. If Fermanagh and Derry are walking through us then what will Dublin do? Cavan are a team on the up. A real good challenge to see if we're trying to get things right.
All this chatter about Justin McNulty now is utterly pointless (for what's it's worth I think he did a good job and probably got the best out of the squad available to him).
We owe these Cavan boys - they came to O'Moore Park last year and embarrassed us.
Just saw this on the Derry forum, looks like they have the same worries as we have...
QuoteJust back in the hotel after the Laois game and I am absolutely at a loose end trying to work out what is going on with this current Derry set-up. In the last 3 games we have conceded a total of 4-55 and add in the fact that we have been totally outplayed.
Make no mistake about it, we were very fortunate to come out of Laois today with a point. We had a referee which gave us nearly all the soft decisions. Laois out thought us, out worked us and to be honest they made us look a very ordinary side that is heading backwards at a rate of noughts.
SL McGoldrick was deployed as sweeper and It was a total ineffective move by Derry, had no influence whatsoever, Quigley single handedly wiped out our midfield.
Our defensive system is clearly not working, we are inviting the opposition on and hoping to turn the ball over and play the counter attacking game, if this is our plan going into the championship then we are in bother. We continue to concede soft frees with indiscipline in the tackle.
One positive, when we run with the ball in hand we look a threat but we have to marry our attacking play with a solid defensive plan.
We need to play Rodgers at fullback, that is his natural position, would try Chrissy McKaigue at midfield with Holly, play Mark Lynch at CHF and Gerard O'Kane at CHB, that would give us a good experienced spine to the team.
We still have time to implement changes but it's going to take a lot of hard word and my personal opinion after watching these last 3 matches that maybe it's down to attitude like previous years. I understand it's an amateur sport but you have to put in the effort, commitment and sacrifices to reap the rewards.
OakGael (Derry) - Posts:238 - 13/03/2016 16:12:01 1834107
Scoring 5 goals is definitely a positive, but conceding 1 goal and 22 points is definitely a negative.
Serious analysis is needed on how Laois managed to score 22 points, essentially they achieved a score on average every 3 minutes. I wasn't down at the game, but that scoring return would suggest Laois cleaned Derry out in midfield, and found little resistance from the Derry defence.
Now while Laois are a strong side, they are not widely known for their attacking style. That makes me worry........alot
GaryMc82 (Derry) - Posts:2195 - 14/03/2016 18:36:47 1834822
Can't argue with them Derry boys....Ref has a lot to answer for with his performance on sunday....
Quigley was immense especially in the first 50 minutes...
I hear we have picked up a few injuries rather not say who on here but we all know Lillis is gone but it looks like there is 3 more big players struggling along with him >:( >:( ...Lets hope young O'Carroll come through the Dublin game okay he is kicking a lot of football lately it must be hard on the chap!
Yeah, i hear Timmons is out almost certainly. Poor lad is injury prone. Big loss. Lillis most likely out for months.
The prognosis on Kieran Lillis is better than first thought. Out for 5-6 weeks with a fracture. No break luckily.
I had a dream last night that I was talking to Jack Nolan, and he said we beat Cavan, scoring 4 goals in the process. Make of that what you will :)
Quote from: les Antiques on March 23, 2016, 10:37:36 AM
The prognosis on Kieran Lillis is better than first thought. Out for 5-6 weeks with a fracture. No break luckily.
Isn't a fracture a break?
Quote from: blueandwhite1 on March 23, 2016, 12:31:07 PM
Quote from: les Antiques on March 23, 2016, 10:37:36 AM
The prognosis on Kieran Lillis is better than first thought. Out for 5-6 weeks with a fracture. No break luckily.
Isn't a fracture a break?
Hairline fracture to be exact.
Quote from: Tony on March 23, 2016, 11:00:51 AM
I had a dream last night that I was talking to Jack Nolan, and he said we beat Cavan, scoring 4 goals in the process. Make of that what you will :)
Hope its true Tony, just a bit worried that you're dreaming about Jack Nolan... (http://avatars.jurko.net/uploads/avatar_24647.gif) (http://avatars.jurko.net) ;D ;D
If we beat Cavan and lose to Meath we're gone.
If Armagh lose one of their last 2 games and we beat Meath we survive.
I'm I right ??
Quote from: OTF on March 23, 2016, 01:13:51 PM
If we beat Cavan and lose to Meath we're gone.
If Armagh lose one of their last 2 games and we beat Meath we survive.
I'm I right ??
Yes you're right. In short, in all likelihood we have to beat Meath to stay up. It's shaping up to be a championship style last League game in O'Moore Park.
__________Pts__SD____Fixtures
Fermanagh 4 -2 Galway (away) Tyrone (home)
Meath 3 -12 Derry (away) Laois (away)
Laois 3 -20 Cavan (away) Meath (home)
Armagh 3 -22 Tyrone (away) Derry (home)
There's a number of different scenarios. If Fermanagh lose both their games we only have to win one. If us, Meath and Armagh win one each it'll go down to score difference. If only 2 of those 3 win one game it will go down to head to head. Whatever way you look at it, I think it'll come down to beating Meath on the last day. A win in Cavan would be a big boost though.
Quote from: Tony on March 23, 2016, 11:00:51 AM
I had a dream last night that I was talking to Jack Nolan, and he said we beat Cavan, scoring 4 goals in the process. Make of that what you will :)
I dreamt about Jennifer Lawrence......but each to their own!
Mind you, she said the exact same thing in my dream.
From Cavan's Hogan Stand page, a nice little incentive for our lads before Sunday...
QuoteOur NAP this weekend is Cavan to score over 16.5 points versus Laois at a nicely priced 11/10 with Paddy Power.
Cavan have been building up a serious head of steam over the last number weeks and have come closest to upsetting Tyrone in the first round.
They also seem to have finally turned the corner in the scoring department, with Seanie Johnston racking up some very credible scores they have really seemed to let lose recently.
They have scored on average 22 points per game over their last three fixtures, these are figures that Cavan have never produced to date under Terry Hyland
and the Laois team they play has conceded the most scores in division two to date, a porous 98 points or an average of just under 20 points a game.
All of which indicates a high scoring performance from Cavan, not to mention the advantageous home advantage.
Paddy Power are the only book makers to have priced up this market to date, so also remember to keep an eye on other bookmakers for a bit of better value.
Bad result for us in Omagh tonight.
Its still in our own hands. Win tomorrow and beat Meath and we stay up. Let's stand up for ourselves and not be depending on other teams to save us...
Quote from: Junior Ex Laoistalk on March 26, 2016, 03:09:19 PM
From Cavan's Hogan Stand page, a nice little incentive for our lads before Sunday...
QuoteOur NAP this weekend is Cavan to score over 16.5 points versus Laois at a nicely priced 11/10 with Paddy Power.
Cavan have been building up a serious head of steam over the last number weeks and have come closest to upsetting Tyrone in the first round.
They also seem to have finally turned the corner in the scoring department, with Seanie Johnston racking up some very credible scores they have really seemed to let lose recently.
They have scored on average 22 points per game over their last three fixtures, these are figures that Cavan have never produced to date under Terry Hyland
and the Laois team they play has conceded the most scores in division two to date, a porous 98 points or an average of just under 20 points a game.
All of which indicates a high scoring performance from Cavan, not to mention the advantageous home advantage.
Paddy Power are the only book makers to have priced up this market to date, so also remember to keep an eye on other bookmakers for a bit of better value.
Very unwelcome piece from a Cavan perspective. We ain't Dublin ffs.
Not looking good for us now, we have the worse defensive record in the League.
Here are the league tables as they now stand
http://www.rte.ie/sport/results/gaa/allianz-football-league/26078/#tables (http://www.rte.ie/sport/results/gaa/allianz-football-league/26078/#tables)
No not looking good, all results went against us this w/e if Derry and Tyrone could have held out things would have being a lot brighter.
As it stands Derry have nothing to play for v Armagh and you'd have to think Armagh are now favourites in that game, even if we beat Meath say that will leave more than 2 counties on 5 points and as Junior is pointing out our scoring difference is shite.
Anyone at the game .
Disappointing yesterday once again . Never looked liked coming even close to winning or even threatening Cavan yesterday . The scoreline was misleading . The amount of times the ball was kicked into there goalkeepers hands was unacceptable . I thought there might have been a bit of a kick in the second half but nothing materialised . Good to see Ross back and in fairness to Laois they keep plugging away but we are obviously lacking any effective defensive strategy. I thought OLoughlin and to a lesser extent Robbie Keogh were the best on show for Laois yesterday.
Can't see Armagh slipping up at home to Derry and that Meath forward line will fancy themselves against Laois next Sunday . Really home I'm wrong .
It's only right that we go to Division 3 because we haven't done enough to be in this Division. Defensively we are all over the place and confidence is very low. For the likes of us, it doesn't really matter what Division we are in anyway. League football is meaningless and we have no hope in the Leinster Championship.
Why is it only right we go to Div 3. Its actually a disgrace I was holding off but Mick Lillis what in Gods name is he doing. If anyone on here can point me in the way of a plan. Defence is our big problem for last couple of years yet he plays more open than ever before. Ross back is a good thing ??? His 35. He owes Laois nothing but for him it's over. I can actually see us going to Div 4 if this decline continues. McNulty was not pretty to watch but at least their was a defensive plan. This is horrendous.
Accept the fact that Lillis does not have the defensive players to arrest this slide. Not good enough. Simple as. McNulty had a better defensive plan, fair enough, but he also had Healy and O'Leary who are better players than some we have now. We could well go down to Division 4 because defections will increase as we slip away, but this was all foreseeable and nobody can claim to be that surprised really, can they?
It's really worrying that no lessons have been learned yet. Our defence was left wide open far too often but that has happened in nearly every match. On numerous occasions Cavan had a simple tap over point with no Laois man near him. They ran at us and always had a man on the overlap. It's far too easy.
Even in attack there doesn't seem to be a plan. It's a case of get the ball to the Kingstons or O'Carroll and let them at it from there. This is not how the game works anymore, this is not club football. You need systems and strategies, just telling them to go out and give it their all won't cut it.
For the game itself, Cavan were comfortable for the most part. They opened up a lead against the wind and we never really got close. We had a 10/15 minute spell in the second half where Cavan sat back but we couldn't open them up, only cutting the lead to 3. If they needed it I think Cavan could easily have won by more.
Brody had a decent game, the short kick outs are working well although some were definitely shorter than 13 yards! Our defence individually were fine, there's nothing much they can do with no protection. Timmons is vital to us. We were 50/50 in midfield, Quigley had his usual few good catches and Meaney got a harsh black card.
O'Loughlin had to move back to midfield, he's doing well in a more attacking role. Kingston had a bad game by his standards but when he moved into full forward towards the end he caused a lot of trouble. He had a shot saved and caught three long balls in a row but was surrounded by Cavan players, the last chance was worked out to Ross who should have goaled.
Merideth can do excellent things then follow it up with very average stuff. O'Carroll with the right ball is very dangerous. It was nice to see Ross back, he kicked 2 points. The other subs didn't do much although Farrell kicked a nice point. Walsh or Cahilane didn't come on which was surprising I thought.
We have to beat Meath in the last game and hope Armagh lose to Derry. Unlikely I think and us and Meath are likely to be relegated. To be relegated with the best squad we've had in years would be a sad indictment of the management team. Looking ahead we have Wicklow who we should beat but then Dublin. If we go out against them the way we're playing now I fear real embarrassment.
We haven't been in the 3rd tier of league football since 2002. We've stayed up in division 2 for the past few years with worse squads than we have this year. If we go down the blame lies firmly at Lillis' door.
Edit: And that was when it was division 1a and 1b and division 2a and 2b. So not really the third tier.
If we set like up like we did yesterday against Wicklow nevermind Dublin we will be in trouble . Our defenders stand no chance when you have lads coming at them from all angles like yesterday . If Cavan were anyway ruthless I shudder to think what the score may have been . They had so much time on the ball particularly in our half .
County Board may well be surprised. I am not blaming Lillis for where we are, but is he not highly naive playing so open? I think what we lack is a plan at all levels. Look I am not the genius going to sort out Laois Football but watching the Derry game I thought the goals they scored have been similar to quite a lot that were conceded in club championship in Laois. In fairness we are ignoring the quality of coaching, which is not all the county boards fault I would say this is at the feet of the clubs. We need more of our club coaches (all levels) to go out and do regular coaching courses and the County Board to have an overall development and coaching structure in place. We honestly dont have enough new people coming into clubs in Laois and driving them on. This is not easy, Mick Lillis I am sure wants the best for Laois Football but he may have to go before the championship he really is out of his league here. I don't see any reason to wait for the championship to be over to remove him (risky plan) but I don't think it's going to get any worse. We need to go with young coaches open to new ideas who are willing to learn and improve. I can see us scraping over Wicklow giving it a good go before being hammered by Dublin before been beaten in first round of qualifiers. We prob will concede an average of 20 points a game at this. We need to have an open and honest debate with no nasty blame game to sort out whats wrong with Laois Football and begin rebuilding. I honestly think we do have talent maybe not on a Dublin level but similar to Roscommon or Monaghan.
We have the worst defensive record in the entire league. That says it all.
Lillis is a good laois gaa man but the landscape has changed.
If your not tactically innovative now your gonna be found out.
We lack defenders but we have no defensive plan.
If Jim mcguinness had this bunch of players we probably be looking at promotion.
Dropping to division 3 can be a slippery slope.
Worrying time for laois football.
It's disappointing for all concerned. Everybody involved wants the best for laois. I do believe it all comes down to coaching received as lads develop. I'm sure if you contrasted juvenile club coaching here with top counties you'd see some differences. Its not all about money either. Club people have r to start educating themselves with current top practices - with county boards help. There is a new pathway being launched in a fortnight and hopefully that will start something but at this stage you're looking at a 10 year project.
Not knocking anybody but underage county managers have to start being people with top class qualifications and ideas. Not just former great players who have given fantastic service and coached club sides for a few years
There's lots of work needed at underage level but this is the best senior squad we'll have in a long time. We have Kingston and O'Loughlin in their prime, strong, experienced players like Quigley and Timmons. Meaney, Walsh, Merideth, Cahilane actually on the squad and a few very good young players. After this there's not a lot coming through.
We're wasting this opportunity to get the best out of what we have. No offence to Lillis but he's just not up to it, he's actually a step back from O'Flatharta! A successful senior team encourages young players to take up the game. Finances are tight but could those appointed to find a new manager not find anything better?
I had a check on my earlier stat. It turns out we haven't been in division 3 since 1991!
Get this man out. Sounds like he doesn't want to be there. Terrible defeatist attitude and he hasn't a clue.
https://soundcloud.com/midlandssport/mick-lillis-post-cavan
Quote from: Stad on March 28, 2016, 03:08:27 PM
There's lots of work needed at underage level but this is the best senior squad we'll have in a long time. We have Kingston and O'Loughlin in their prime, strong, experienced players like Quigley and Timmons. Meaney, Walsh, Merideth, Cahilane actually on the squad and a few very good young players. After this there's not a lot coming through.
We're wasting this opportunity to get the best out of what we have. No offence to Lillis but he's just not up to it, he's actually a step back from O'Flatharta! A successful senior team encourages young players to take up the game. Finances are tight but could those appointed to find a new manager not find anything better?
I had a check on my earlier stat. It turns out we haven't been in division 3 since 1991!
we got to the Leinster final in 1991 don't think that will happen this year.
not able to get to the games so far how is the fitness of the team looking the bigger men running themselves out early and not able to get back in good defensive positions has been a problem for the last 2 years
Quote from: Tony on March 28, 2016, 03:18:24 PM
Get this man out. Sounds like he doesn't want to be there. Terrible defeatist attitude and he hasn't a clue.
https://soundcloud.com/midlandssport/mick-lillis-post-cavan
That's an embarrassing interview and it's not the first one. He doesn't have to first idea as to why we never had a chance of winning the game never mind trying to fix it. He said there's not a lot between the two teams (us and Cavan), I think player wise he's right but apart from that he's way off. Cavan had an easy win because they were set up properly. I still can't believe he hasn't got a training pitch sorted out. Embarrassing.
Jack Nolan has to be the most optimistic man in Ireland. In fairness to Lillis he is fairly down beat. To be honest I thought going in this was going to be tough job for anyone. Lillis has come in and tried and to the best of my knowledge is a volunteer. So I am not going to knock him. However it is clear he is out of depth and maybe we have to gamble a bit and go with a untried coach with good ideas similar to Big Jim. To be honest Sugrue seems to be an outstanding candidate within the county. But I am not against anyone provided they have a plan and a way of playing. This comes with a health warning as if Lillis gets the bullet do the Portlaoise boys walk.
The way he has them set up is laughable. It's what an u-12 coach would set them up like. "Go out an fight for every ball and and try your best." That's 100% what he's saying - why else is our defence so shambolic? That DOES NOT cut it in 2016.
We've scored almost as much as Tyrone have, but our defence is so, so easy to crack. GET A PROPER BACKS TACTICAL COACH IN THERE, before 2016 is another waste of time for all. We'll have to keep Lillis for this year but will the man admit he needs some help in the tactical department.
Quote from: BallyroanAbu on March 28, 2016, 06:36:33 PM
Jack Nolan has to be the most optimistic man in Ireland. In fairness to Lillis he is fairly down beat. To be honest I thought going in this was going to be tough job for anyone. Lillis has come in and tried and to the best of my knowledge is a volunteer. So I am not going to knock him. However it is clear he is out of depth and maybe we have to gamble a bit and go with a untried coach with good ideas similar to Big Jim. To be honest Sugrue seems to be an outstanding candidate within the county. But I am not against anyone provided they have a plan and a way of playing. This comes with a health warning as if Lillis gets the bullet do the Portlaoise boys walk.
Jack played his part in getting rid of both Kearns and McNulty 2 managers who tried to put some sort of defensive plan in place during their time.
Amazing how many porters are now calling for defensive systems :) maybe it's a watershed .
Quote from: Tony on March 28, 2016, 06:54:12 PM
The way he has them set up is laughable. It's what an u-12 coach would set them up like. "Go out an fight for every ball and and try your best." That's 100% what he's saying - why else is our defence so shambolic? That DOES NOT cut it in 2016.
We've scored almost as much as Tyrone have, but our defence is so, so easy to crack. GET A PROPER BACKS TACTICAL COACH IN THERE, before 2016 is another waste of time for all. We'll have to keep Lillis for this year but will the man admit he needs some help in the tactical department.
Absolutely go out there and get someone, there's no reason in the wide earthly world why the 6 backs that started yesterday can't defend properly .....if hard as it to believe coached in the basics.
Sometimes I think we've an over inflated opinion of our players. We haven't had a set of backs that could defend properly in years. Even in mickos time they weren't great but compensated in other ways. Laois players seem to either lunge in and get exposed or throw a flailing arm at an attacker. People might point to mc nultys time but when did we really come close to winning an important game. It's one thing keeping the score down but you're supposed to try and win games. Not saying you couldn't improve the current set up but I am saying we simply don't coach the arts of defending, tackling, kicking, decision making like other counties. Until we do that routinely with kids county wide we'll keep having the same arguments about senior managers for decades to come
I don't whats wrong with us do we preach mediocre. We always have an excuse. Offaly have won All Ireland same as us even when we had good young teams in the 90's size was the excuse why we never kicked on. This team on paper maybe not all available positions is capable of Div 1 football and at least a last 8 spot in the All Ireland Series. Evan O Carroll, Donie Kingston have talent comparable to anyone in the country for whatever reason we are not getting the max out of them. Begley, Quigley were recruited to AFL. John O Loughlin one of the best players in Dublin Club Championship.
Do we really believe Cavan and Fermanagh have better players than us? They do in their holes. We have plenty of footballers in all positions but we play like a team from the 80s. Top class game plans used to be what 3 or 4 teams excelled at, now everyone does it except us. Plenty of division 3 teams have adapted too. The most worrying statement from Lillis yesterday was 'there was nothing between the teams'. There was a proverbial mile between them in terms of preparation and game planning. I agree also with those who say that Jack Nolan has played a part in this idiotic idea that open, attacking football suits Laois. Let's see how it suits us in Division 4. Either Lillis becomes a fast learner and starts putting some serious structure around that team, or we need to find someone who can.
I'm not saying we are neglecting our underage coaching, but we are light years away from competing for a provincial title, if Saturday is anything to go by. We give our players what you could call a 'general' coaching education. They have the skills of the game, but we struggle with anything specific. We don't defend well, we don't track runs, we don't have a clear plan in attack, we don't pressurize the ball until it's too late, we don't have a plan for kickouts. We have been left behind. It was disheartening to see. When we were successful all those years ago games were a bit more off the cuff, so you could get away with it, but the game has changed a lot in the last ten years and we haven't caught up, and don't appear likely to do so any time soon either.
Above is part of a post by Steven Segal re our recent u21 game v Dublin I think it sums up exactly our current position.
Apart from underage coaching another thing that needs to change is championship structure, a leaf needs to be borrowed from the hurling and the senior needs to go down to 8 with the other 8 being inter, it will make it far more competitive in all grades from senior to junior and improve performances in leinster for the winners, with the gales thing brought in this year it could finally make senior an actual championship instead of waiting to see who will play portlaoise in the final, if you improve the standard of club championships you improve the county team after a period of time also
Quote from: maccer on March 28, 2016, 07:59:57 PM
Sometimes I think we've an over inflated opinion of our players. We haven't had a set of backs that could defend properly in years. Even in mickos time they weren't great but compensated in other ways. Laois players seem to either lunge in and get exposed or throw a flailing arm at an attacker. People might point to mc nultys time but when did we really come close to winning an important game. It's one thing keeping the score down but you're supposed to try and win games. Not saying you couldn't improve the current set up but I am saying we simply don't coach the arts of defending, tackling, kicking, decision making like other counties. Until we do that routinely with kids county wide we'll keep having the same arguments about senior managers for decades to come
Spot on. Reaction is way over the top and in some cases completely unrealistic. We're in a vicious circle too with regards to Lillis. He's all we can afford because funding is at an all time low in the county. Crowds are pitiful and interest in general is seriously on the wane. Club football is pathetic in terms of standard and our set up is out of the dark ages. Young lads are dropping by the wayside left, right and centre because they have no interest in propping up clubs who have no chance of winning anything. Division 3 is what we are. If there's anything in us at all, we'll take the hit and come back stronger, but I'm not holding my breath. Chances are we are going down the same road as Offaly
Quote from: OTF on March 28, 2016, 07:16:56 PM
Quote from: Tony on March 28, 2016, 06:54:12 PM
The way he has them set up is laughable. It's what an u-12 coach would set them up like. "Go out an fight for every ball and and try your best." That's 100% what he's saying - why else is our defence so shambolic? That DOES NOT cut it in 2016.
We've scored almost as much as Tyrone have, but our defence is so, so easy to crack. GET A PROPER BACKS TACTICAL COACH IN THERE, before 2016 is another waste of time for all. We'll have to keep Lillis for this year but will the man admit he needs some help in the tactical department.
Absolutely go out there and get someone, there's no reason in the wide earthly world why the 6 backs that started yesterday can't defend properly .....if hard as it to believe coached in the basics.
It's not the 6 backs OTF it's the runners coming from out the field that are not tracked.. you could have the best 6 backs in the country but they can only mark one man. 2.4 of Derry's total came from their half back line. If you do the stats you would be surprised how few scores come from the oppositions 6 forwards.
high fielder you are correct in much of what you say.
however I remember an even bleaker outlook back 15 or so years ago. at that time the laois county board were over 200k in the red, o moore park was a shambles and the county teams were merely ticking over.
a new look county executive emerged with dick miller at the helm(not everyones cup of tea). in the space of 3/4 years the county grounds was transformed with the new stand, the debt was wiped out via the clubs/county draw being established and the micko era emerged on top of the minor success.
so a bad situation can be addressed quickly if the right foundations are in place. the key driving force is an astute, committed, non selfish and open minded county executive.
alas as of now we have one of the worst county executives nationwide. of the personnel aboard you would certainly baulk at the idea of employing more than 4 of them in any capacity.
it is this executive which is driving the narrative that we must shop locally(and cheapest) on the managerial fronts, and the upshot is that our premium team(the county footballers) are now in free fall, with rock bottom of division 4 looming after next season.
there are individuals within this county who if the landscape was cleared would join the county executive and be prepared to raise the funding to unearth the best possible management teams for our county teams(as opposed to the cheapest as of now). getting a clear out of the executive is no easy task. the individuals who bring zero to the executive table are the ones who refuse to leave, as you frequently see that once their 5 year term is up, they simply switch into another executive position.
the current chairman will go down as a rather forgettable incumbent. if you think he has been poor, I would have to close my eyes and wince at the prospect of the current deputy moving up one position.
from my knowledge there are clubs in Dublin with excellent club committees and many of those sitting on the laois executive would not be entertained in such clubs.
have a look at the current county executive and ask the following question. what expertise does each member bring to the table? I know out treasurer is an accountant, apart from that I see zero expertise.
concluding with high fielders points.......yes the club senior football c/ship is a joke, crowds are dwindling, interest is at an all time low, not one underage team is standing out in its grade and the overall level of proper coaching is not on a par with other counties.............our current county executive is asleep at the wheel and none of our troubles will start to be tackled until an inevitable backlash arises and there is a big clearout and an avenue is paved for new blood with brighter ideas to take up the challenges.
All I'm saying is : We have a good squad. We have potential this year, believe it or not. All we need is a man with a good brain at the helm. We don't need world class facilities. It's frustrating seeing these kinds of pityful displays when we can do so much better. A decent manager would have us challenging for promotion, I'm convinced of that. Wolly was right, Lillis is a waste of time. I'm saying that out of frustration at his managerial ability, not a personal attack - I'm sure he's a nice guy. I'd kill for a good manager with this squad.
There would be some outstanding issues from Dick Millers reign. When Micko went I think we all said we would regret it but the team was not happy, so bye bye to the one man who brought us any success. But as said at the time anyone would win with these players. I detest listening to that me feiner on the radio about Laois Football but he has some valid points. I think rather than change everything we change what we can. Two appointments need to be made now, a defensive addition to the Senior Football Management. A Strength and Conditioning Coach who oversees all under-age teams so at least players in shape. We should then insist that all clubs coaches are passing yearly tests on coaching badges. Writing this down I think people would respond to a more professional set up.
Quote from: Faugheen on March 29, 2016, 12:37:40 PM
Quote from: OTF on March 28, 2016, 07:16:56 PM
Quote from: Tony on March 28, 2016, 06:54:12 PM
The way he has them set up is laughable. It's what an u-12 coach would set them up like. "Go out an fight for every ball and and try your best." That's 100% what he's saying - why else is our defence so shambolic? That DOES NOT cut it in 2016.
We've scored almost as much as Tyrone have, but our defence is so, so easy to crack. GET A PROPER BACKS TACTICAL COACH IN THERE, before 2016 is another waste of time for all. We'll have to keep Lillis for this year but will the man admit he needs some help in the tactical department.
Absolutely go out there and get someone, there's no reason in the wide earthly world why the 6 backs that started yesterday can't defend properly .....if hard as it to believe coached in the basics.
It's not the 6 backs OTF it's the runners coming from out the field that are not tracked.. you could have the best 6 backs in the country but they can only mark one man. 2.4 of Derry's total came from their half back line. If you do the stats you would be surprised how few scores come from the oppositions 6 forwards.
I'm well aware of that, was responding to those who keep referring to natural defenders or the return of Healy solving our problems.
On another point getting 15 men behind the ball as we often did in McNulty's time didn't mean we defended well, simply because most of our lads just don't know how to stop runners coming at them and don't know how to tackle, we've being discussing this since Liam Kearns time and absolutely nothing has changed.
Quote from: Tony on March 29, 2016, 01:15:45 PM
All I'm saying is : We have a good squad. We have potential this year, believe it or not. All we need is a man with a good brain at the helm. We don't need world class facilities. It's frustrating seeing these kinds of pityful displays when we can do so much better. A decent manager would have us challenging for promotion, I'm convinced of that. Wolly was right, Lillis is a waste of time. I'm saying that out of frustration at his managerial ability, not a personal attack - I'm sure he's a nice guy. I'd kill for a good manager with this squad.
Totally agree Tony. We don't have a problem with individual talent or strength and conditioning. We have some fine athletes. Many people are making comments on our club structure and coaching and they are valid in terms of providing future talent to the senior team. What we have right now is just fine. Largely we are still based around Leinster and All-Ireland winning minor and Leinster winning U-21 players. When we played Tyrone it stood out that we had as much size and skill but were playing as individuals whereas every aspect of their game was thought through and practiced to death. Kickouts, breaking ball, defending against a slow build up, defending against high balls, defending against diagonal balls, defending against quick ball into full forward lines, turning the ball over in the tackle, zone defence, breakdown strategies, counter attack strategies etc. etc. Everyone knew their role in every situation which means that the team are operating way above the sum of their parts. Our lack of planning and scenario drilling makes great players (Evan O'Carroll, Donie Kingston, Colm Begley, John O' Loughlin etc. etc.) look like poor players - they are not. They are trying to make it up as they go along. This is the tragedy. We need a manager who can get this moving as it takes a couple of years to make it happen, or at the very least Lillis needs to employ someone who gets this. When unqualified pundits like me and others can see how glaringly amateurish this set up is, surely the county board and other influential voices in Laois can see it. Is there anyone in the county that has a demonstrated understanding of how to set up a modern inter-county football team? Surely we can afford to employ an ex Tyrone footballer - someone like Peter Canavan for example for a couple of years? The cost of not doing so would seem to be much higher than the cost of doing it.
Great post blue and white.
If we beat meath it will be down to brillant individual displays from JOL, Donie, Evan, Ross.
With our attacking talent there is always a small chance we will beat our equivalents but
we'll have to rack up a huge score to do it ..
Youd be hugely worried about the amount of defections if/when we go down to division 3 next year ..
Lillis interviews are terrible, TOF werent much better .. hard to know what the answer is ..
The rumblings from an early stage were that the setup was a big step back and alas performances are proving this right ..
We could so easily go the way of offaly initially and then end up like Carlow if something credible isnt
done to stop the rot. I live in Dublin so i dont really know whats goes on down in Laois gaa circles other
than what i see in O Moore park .. but what i see makes you depressed about the future ..
Here's a question - if we so mysteriously "don't have a pitch to play football on" from winter to summer 2016 - where have the suitable pitches gone from when McNulty, TOF, Kearns and Micko were in charge of us? Have they suddenly disappeared or something? Was Laois the only water logged county in winter / spring 2016? No.
From the start, Lillis was saying this would be an extremely hard League to stay in. That's not the attitude we want. We want a manager who BELIEVES in our players and our potential, and provides a good platform for them to go out and perform.
So far, Lillis comes across as someone who thinks we're a poor side and will do will to save face, rather than achieve anything of note, making excuses for our poor performances and not even knowing where to improve.
There are 3 people in this world - those who make things happen, those who watch things happen and those who wonder "what happened?" Unfortunately, Lillis appears to be, at this stage, in the latter catagory. Again, I've nothing personal against the man. However, he needs to waken up now OR step aside and let someone competent have a go.
Lads sorry to intrude on your page but what is the story with your keeper. Mad for runs out the field. At one stage he was at half way lookinh for a one two and annoyed when didn't get it back.
You have the makings of a decent team there. Talented forwards and some big physical players.
Blueandwhite1 you have to remember Tyrone players are probably rehearsing and implementing all those skills/strategies you list since they started representing their county at U14 level so it's a natural progression for Mickey Harte to aimply tweek things. We don't have that planned progression. Various managers at underage just seem to do their own thing. So your not comparing like with like. The whole set up has to be looked at. We can't just isolate the senior side and expect miracles if the foundation us not there.
Remember when Babs managed our hurlers he made quite an insulting comment that he was wasting time coaching skills to our senior team that U14s had in Tipp. Thankfully our hurling side seem to have gone a long way to rectifying that but I'm afraid it may be pertinent to our football side now. They're all good committed lads but maybe the whole system has failed them
Quote from: maccer on March 29, 2016, 10:21:42 PM
Remember when Babs managed our hurlers he made quite an insulting comment that he was wasting time coaching skills to our senior team that U14s had in Tipp.
Sorry to intrude, but Babs & "coaching" shouldn't appear in the same sentence...... Babs & "insulting comment" on the other hand.....
Its not rocket science that our defensive play is what is letting us down, and I agree the managers interviews are frustrating when you hear terms like 'Its not good enough' and 'I don't understand it' on a few occasions. The team are clearly fit and strong to compete for the division 2 title from what we have seen. You don't need to be a statistician, just a simple look at the table tells us where our problem lies. We have scored 93 points in our games to date which is more than the average of the division or in fact any division in this years football league, so we can win possession and convert it into scores with the best of them. However we have conceded 118 points which is the most conceded by a team in all 4 divisions. The management team have to be able to see this and look at someway of sorting it out, even if it means bringing in a defensive coach. In fairness we have had some injury problems with defenders and the fact is one of the best defenders in the county is focussing on hurling so its not a simple fix, but we can certainly compete with the majority of teams in the country if we sort our defensive issues out.
We are only getting these high scoring averages due to a game plan that is heavily weighted on attack. If we concentrated on defending I am sure some players that are doing well going forward would be dropped. A loose hand thrown in the way of an attacker is not defending. This would not be so perilous if the U21 & U18 were not also poor defensively. I think we can do better as a county I really don't think lack of resources is our problem. We may not be up with Dublin but we are not in the ha-penny place either. I just think we need a bit of drive from somewhere ala Donegal with Jim but more importantly maybe something like Declan O Louglin and Micko. I am not saying for a second Micko was the greatest coach but he harnessed all the resources of the county towards winning and for a few years after this attitude remained.
I can't see us staying up but I live in hope...
Our team needs a defensive plan.
Two guys who are so committed to the cause and I'm not picking them out to run them down far from it as they are two stalwarts of the team for so long and have given plenty.
JOL and Darren Strong are great going forward but what they offer off the ball is shocking .
Not picking out the two lads by any means and I don't think its their fault because the structure is not in place.
These guys are two very fit and strong players that should be able to do both parts of the game but are an Example(just an example could have picked any players)of why we are conceding so much they seem to switch off when Laois loose the ball like nearly every Laois player this comes from coaching and tactics.
Not having a pitch must not have helped but we have the best squad we have had in ages so its time we got a performance out of the team I hope it starts Sunday!..
I wouldn't much notice of what Mick said 5 minutes after a game he just lost, I like he's honest. Theres just one point from the interview with Jack which I though strange they lamented the fact that the ball was kicked into the keeper,s hands a few times and no mention of the fact that we conceded 1-17 ffs..... then again the questioning was led by Jack.
Ok this is bad but it might be the turning point, the fact that so many here are calling for a defensive plan encourages me ..... times have changed.
I would agree with OTF that there isn't much sense in criticising the manager for comments made a few minutes after a match. I don't think there is any good answer as to why lads might be dropping balls into the goalie's hands from 30 hards out (opposition pressure, not relaxed, not confident, bad players........ does anyone know)?
I wasn't able to get to the match so I don't really like commenting but the Leinster Express said that a lowlight of the game was the fact that Laois didn't even seem to have a pre-match routine ready. Last year, under O Flahartha, I saw Laois teams coming out for championship matches in the same way that you might find the congregation leaving a particularly long and boring Saturday evening mass. There is simply no excuse for bad preparations but, at the same time, good preparations can only produce results if the players have a basic desire to succeed in each game and not just the sexy ones. To my mind, there are too many of the players just not giving it everything they have. If they did, the table would look a lot different for us and we wouldn't have all these up and down performances. Of course the manager can't say this in an interview..
We have plenty of very good players, plenty of strong men and good athletes but I don't think we have plenty of strong characters.
You don't know what you're talking about Giovanni. Players not giving enough / not enough character? Say that to their face after a long week of training where they can't go out, have to go to bed early, can't be seen anywhere near a pub and run around a pitch a few times a week (while not playing football apparently) all to play for Laois for free.
What's missing in the team is NOT character. It's tactics and planning by the MANAGEMENT. Kicking balls into the keepers hands did not lose us the game. Conceding the highest amount in ALL FOUR divisions has got us here. Keep up.
The lads deserve a proper setup, simple as that.
Tony you have a pretty obnoxious way of expressing an opinion.
Unless all of our managers since 2003 have been idiots, I think it's time to start looking elsewhere for a solution. We didn't get hammered by Fermanagh because we didn't have a defensive system. We didn't get beaten by Longford in the Championship by Longford under McNulty because we didn't have a defensive system. We didn't get beaten by Antrim under O Flahatha because we didn't have a defensive system. We got beaten because the players weren't up for it.
The gravest mistake being made by people here is to mistake character for turning up to training and not drinking. That's not character. Character is to treat every opponent with the same respect (or contempt) whether he comes from Fermanagh or Dublin. Character is to make sure you're tuned in for the fight, even when it doesn't seem that important. Character is being up for it when the people around you don't seem to have a warm up routine ready. Character is putting body and soul into every tackle. Evan O Carroll clearly has character and there are a few more with him. But generally, I'm afraid the character of the team is weak.
I'm with Tony on this one. Laois individually showed loads of character against Derry, Tyrone and Cavan but came out on the wrong end of the results because of a non existent game plan. Every player bust a gut against Tyrone but the decision making was terrible. We couldn't break down their blanket defence because there was no plan - people didn't understand their roles and just resorted to kicking aimless balls outside the scoring zone. Same against Derry and Cavan defensively. Look at that team no.1 to 23 and tell me who is not giving everything? I don't see it.
we dont have a defender on our current panel that would get in a division one/top 4 team this is the way it is. Our defenders want to score first defend second this is how its being for the last number of years. I dont believe Lillis is prioritising league, In fairness the last few years staying in div 2 has done f**k all for us come the summer so dont see it as a big issue. I think our midfield does not give our back 6 enough cover either.
We lost the game against Derry because we conceded 5 goals. We lost 5 goals because Derry players were allowed the freedom to drive through the middle of our defence. That happened because runners were not tracked and tackles were not made (or not made in the right areas of the pitch). You can put that down to the manager's game plan. I put it down to character. Cahir Healy wouldn't need a game plan to track his man. Neither does Evan O Carroll.
We lost against Tyrone because they were the better team. Here, I agree that Laois gave everything they had (it was one of the sexy games) but the preparations of the Tyrone team were clearly far superior and they deserved to win the game. Here, I think the Tyrone management was clearly superior and this was a major difference between the teams.
I couldn't go to the Cavan game but the accounts I've heard is that it was another weak enough performance.
My point is that if we played with the same passion that we played against Tyrone in all of our league games, we'd probably be vying with Cavan for the promotion spot, even with the inferior technical preparations. We had the same manager for the Fermanagh game and the Tyrone game.
I have never criticised individual players on line and I won't do it now but the evidence I have seen over the last 10 years suggests that unilaterally blaming management for these losses is not going to solve the problem.
Giovanni, you're talking nonsense. The effort the players have been putting into every game has been clear for all to see. They all have been giving everything. It's obvious from watching that they are not organised, the set up is all wrong. That's in attack and defence. In every game we see examples of half backs, midfielders and half forwards sprinting back trying to cover runs. It's impossible to defend this way. You have to be facing the play to defend correctly. Plus our players around the middle don't have the pace to track runs.
This is obvious to all, except our management team it appears. Previous managers have realised this and organised our defence. That was with inferior squads. Let's not forget in the recent past we were so stuck for defenders that we had Kevin Meaney at full back, Lillis at full back, O'Loghlin centre back, Jamie Kavanagh corner back, we even had to convert Peter O'Leary into a corner back!! This management team has the best squad we've had for years but they look like they're dragging us to division 3 for the first time since 1991!!!
How the manager can be defended is beyond me, he hasn't even organised a pitch to train on according to himself. He's so bad he doesn't even have excuses, he just says he doesn't know what's going on. It's embarrassing. The players are doing everything asked of them, they're not world beaters, they won't be winning Leinster titles but they deserve better than the current set up. I'm really dreading what Dublin will do to us and that's if we beat Wicklow. It needs to be sorted out now.
Giovanni says that the lads are lacking in character and not giving their all and then he says I'm the obnoxious one for saying he's out of line? Then he goes on to admit that Tyrone were better prepared than Laois for the game.
The preparation is the MANAGEMENT's duty, don't you think. Go home, Giovanni, you're drunk and confusing yourself.
It's clear to anyone who GOES TO the games and sees things up close, that we're orgasised as well as an army of headless chickens.
Believe it or not, Giovanni, that's a MANAGEMENT responsibility. Not an issue of player character.
You don't even show up to games and you're blaming the players commitment and character. That's a bit laughable to be honest.
These players give their all and I'm proud of them for that. All they need is a setup to get the most from them - IE some proper tactics and preparation from the management. That will make the difference.
It does seem that you find confusing any argument which presents anything other than a binary position: one or zero; black or white; manager's fault or not.
I have missed about 6 Laois matches since 2002, when I returned to Ireland. Two of those were due to deaths in the family. I'm including here midweek O Byrne cup games. I have to travel 90 miles to get to the home games and 90 miles back. I feel I am generally qualified to have an opinion.
I know the more complex argument is probably lost on you but I'll give it one more go. Since 2002 I think we've have 7 or 8 managers. I'm not sure I've counted them all. They've all been dismissed and considered by us to be inadequate in one way or another. This includes the most successful manager in the history of the game. Very few questions have been asked about the players in all this time.
This is just plain ridiculous in my opinion. It doesn't matter how sophisticated the system is or who good a communicator the manager is if the players don't have it within themselves to treat a championship match against Antrim in the same way that they would treat a sexy game against Tyrone. This mental discipline and toughness comes from within the players themselves. The manager can certainly contribute to this and add to it (Cody's character is stamped all over the Kilkenny hurlers) but the raw material has to be there. It wasn't for lack of talent that Cody discarded the likes of Charlie Carter and Cha Fitzpatrick. Donegal didn't turn into shrinking violets when McGuinness left.
This character is built up over a period of time (and probably from the juvenile levels). It is based on mental discipline, humility, teamwork, self-belief and belief in team mates, and all the personality features that you need to succeed. These are fundamental building blocks for any manager.
This does not mean that Lillis is without any blame. If there is no training pitch, this is just total ludicrous and it's entirely his fault. If there is no warm up routine, he is entirely to blame. If there is no game plan, then he is to blame. If players are not understanding their role, then he is to blame.
However, the players have to finally take some responsibility for what's going on out on the pitch in a match situation. Tyrone beat us because they were a better prepared team (and here the manager must take responsibility). The Galway result, for example, was completely different - that was down to poor player decision-making on the field and, I'm afraid poor character. I am suggesting we focus on the basic things needed to beat Galway, Antrim, Longford, Derry, Fermanagh. We need to make sure that we beat the teams that we are clearly better than (whatever the system). That comes from inside the players in the first place.
I'm going to have to agree with Tony here on this one but Giovanni as usual makes some good points there can be no excuse for loosing to Tipperary twice and antrim Longford and Louth with the talent we had and still have in our ranks.
Some of that must come with in the team no matter who the manager is.
However as much as I like Mick Lillis I really feel him and his two wise men need help to get a defensive system in place maybe make more use of the Stats men they have.
Are they doing enough analysis of the games and future opponents I know Fermanagh had watched 12 videos of recent Laois games before they played us yes the players watched us 12 times that's preparation for you....
Not saying you have to go to that extreme but it shows by the way they are progressing with a smaller pool of talent they are doing something right.
I think we can and we will improve the management team might get some help on board or use the help thats already there to better affect.
I've heard a story that John Sugrue might be brought in as a coach but I'm not certain the person that said it is that reliable.
I think it would be a great move getting John Sugrue involved at this stage. The job is clearly beyond Mick Lillis on his own and he is going to have to accept that.
If Wolley is to be believed he will be too stubborn to believe that he needs help but let's hope he puts the needs of the team and county before his own beliefs.
A win on Sunday would be a good kickstart to the championship games and might even keep us in Div.2 even tho' I don't think we will survive and are destined for Div.3 next year.
Getting John Sugrue involved would be a huge plus.
Cavan got their scores way too easily last Sunday.
In terms of tomorrow, lets take something towards the championship by beating Meath.
Hopefully a good home crowd will turn out as Meath will definitely bring a decent following.
Hopefully there will be a tighter defensive structure in place.
Would be so sweet if we manage to win and so do Derry.
Should be a cracking game tomorrow, as good as a championship game.
Good luck Laois
Quote from: Giovanni on March 31, 2016, 03:53:11 PM
It does seem that you find confusing any argument which presents anything other than a binary position: one or zero; black or white; manager's fault or not.
I have missed about 6 Laois matches since 2002, when I returned to Ireland. Two of those were due to deaths in the family. I'm including here midweek O Byrne cup games. I have to travel 90 miles to get to the home games and 90 miles back. I feel I am generally qualified to have an opinion.
I know the more complex argument is probably lost on you but I'll give it one more go. Since 2002 I think we've have 7 or 8 managers. I'm not sure I've counted them all. They've all been dismissed and considered by us to be inadequate in one way or another. This includes the most successful manager in the history of the game. Very few questions have been asked about the players in all this time.
This is just plain ridiculous in my opinion. It doesn't matter how sophisticated the system is or who good a communicator the manager is if the players don't have it within themselves to treat a championship match against Antrim in the same way that they would treat a sexy game against Tyrone. This mental discipline and toughness comes from within the players themselves. The manager can certainly contribute to this and add to it (Cody's character is stamped all over the Kilkenny hurlers) but the raw material has to be there. It wasn't for lack of talent that Cody discarded the likes of Charlie Carter and Cha Fitzpatrick. Donegal didn't turn into shrinking violets when McGuinness left.
This character is built up over a period of time (and probably from the juvenile levels). It is based on mental discipline, humility, teamwork, self-belief and belief in team mates, and all the personality features that you need to succeed. These are fundamental building blocks for any manager.
This does not mean that Lillis is without any blame. If there is no training pitch, this is just total ludicrous and it's entirely his fault. If there is no warm up routine, he is entirely to blame. If there is no game plan, then he is to blame. If players are not understanding their role, then he is to blame.
However, the players have to finally take some responsibility for what's going on out on the pitch in a match situation. Tyrone beat us because they were a better prepared team (and here the manager must take responsibility). The Galway result, for example, was completely different - that was down to poor player decision-making on the field and, I'm afraid poor character. I am suggesting we focus on the basic things needed to beat Galway, Antrim, Longford, Derry, Fermanagh. We need to make sure that we beat the teams that we are clearly better than (whatever the system). That comes from inside the players in the first place.
great post most won't agree with it but its true. when you cross the white line its whats in you will come out, blame all the mangers in the world if it makes you feel better. but the blame lays at the players feet at the end of the day, what ever about one or two mangers but they all can't be wrong. i think the Antrim defeat in portlaoise last year should have woke fans up about the lack of effort from the squad.
according to Damien Lawlor Laois looked tired at half time and simply ran out of steam and couldn't keep near Meath. Fair enough they were down to 14 but many teams loose a man and rather than tire it inspires them. Sounds like there's a problem with the fitness.
So it's back to the pre Micko days.
That was shocking stuff . Laois have not looked altogether fit throughout the league but today they looked unfit to anyone in the stand . No plan .. No leaders and a manager who keeps getting sent the stands . After been to Enniskillen and Breffini this was the most demoralising..
Horrible horible and disgusting dispaly. Its getting progressivley worse every year and now we are at the bottom. Bar a small few a lot of the players have a lot to answer for. No effort, just lay off the ball to the nearest player and your "job is done" mentality. The management are very amateurish but we cannot keep blaming managers year in and out. Those players have no pride in themselves or the jersie. Saying that this must be the most ill prepared team i've seen in a long while.Fitness levels, tactics and selection leave me flummoxed. Also to see a substituted player throw his dodi out of the pram when he was taken off capped it all. Shamefull. You would never see the likes of the Beano, Tom kelly, Joe higgins darren rooney behave in such a manner. If they are happy with Div 3 football let them have it....they deserve it
Quote from: redsetanta on April 03, 2016, 03:47:23 PM
according to Damien Lawlor Laois looked tired at half time and simply ran out of steam and couldn't keep near Meath. Fair enough they were down to 14 but many teams loose a man and rather than tire it inspires them. Sounds like there's a problem with the fitness.
So it's back to the pre Micko days.
laois were not up to standard fitness wise last year either if they were they would have finished off Kildare in the drawn game and finished Antrim also
Terrible stuff, after a start we could only dream of we just didn't know how to play with a lead and let them right back into it. Terribly disappointed with our leaders on the team, they should have steadied it all down when we started losing our way and kicked a few points but instead of that they tried to walk the ball into the net and left four or five points behind them before half time.
We were like a junior team in the second half and fitness really let us down. I think Div 3 is just about our standard right now but management have a lot to answer for.
I might comment on the game at a later time but just have a listen to this joker:
https://soundcloud.com/midlandssport/mick-lillis-post-laois-loss-in-the-nfl-to-meath
He hasn't got a clue. Defensive football is not in Laois' psyche? It's only northern teams that play defensively? You'd think we were Kerry or something the way he's going on and guess what? They play as defensively as anyone. He's the first manager to drag us to division 3 of the national league since 1991! We conceded 136 points in the league, that's worse than everyone including London, it's an average of over 19 points a game. And then we have to play Dublin soon and that's only if we get by Wicklow. Play like that and Dublin will score 10 goals against us.
What in gods name is he on about. Its like someone playing fantasy football. 15 on 15 has long since sailed. It's laudable he wants to play 15 -15 but christ its dreaming.
Quote from: BallyroanAbu on April 03, 2016, 06:53:58 PM
What in gods name is he on about. Its like someone playing fantasy football. 15 on 15 has long since sailed. It's laudable he wants to play 15 -15 but christ its dreaming.
It's not in the slightest bit laudable. It's laughable.
We are all entitled to our opinions on how a team should set up......but we are certainly not all entitled to a position as an IC manager.
To paraphrase a famous Tipp putdown; "I don't blame him at all, it's the fellas who gave him the job I blame!"
People here talking about John Sugrue being brought in? Was Sugrue not in contention for the job but didn't get it?!! Hard to know how you ask him in to pick the pieces up in April!
I think we should leave Lillis till the end of the season. I just don't agree with giving anyone the heave mid season and I doubt it would do any good. To be honest the appointment of TOF was more disappointing than Lillis. Whatever you say about Lillis he is a volunteer, but TOF being paid to do it was far worse. It's been a bad weekend for Laois GAA and maybe it's time for the clubs step up and ask some questions of what the plan is or if there is one.
Quote from: BallyroanAbu on April 03, 2016, 07:35:13 PM
I think we should leave Lillis till the end of the season. I just don't agree with giving anyone the heave mid season and I doubt it would do any good. To be honest the appointment of TOF was more disappointing than Lillis. Whatever you say about Lillis he is a volunteer, but TOF being paid to do it was far worse. It's been a bad weekend for Laois GAA and maybe it's time for the clubs step up and ask some questions of what the plan is or if there is one.
If you recall the appointment of TOF was going to bring us to the next level and in fairness he did bring us back to at least the next level, now the unfortunate ML has us back at the '91 level.
I honestly believe that if Healy, O Leary, McMahon and scully were on that panel, we'd potentially be challenging to go up. You can't get by trying to convert average attacking club players into backs, and our half back line yesterday had 3 of them. Lillis has been exposed, that much is obvious, but there's a huge tsunami of a problem in Laois Gaa, and that is an overall lack of interest. We can blame Lillis for a lot, but when you don't have the best backs in the county available to you, you are already on the back foot. Same story with the hurlers from what I can see. You need your best lads involved. At the start of this thread, lads were spouting shite about this being a strong panel, and blatantly ignoring the amount of decent backs we have. We didn't even have cover for the backs yesterday. We're in a bad way and it could well be the start of dropping down even further. Leinster in general appears to be in a complete mess, Dublin aside. The GAA is becoming very uncompetitive, and the diminishing crowds almost everywhere is proof of that. An amalgamation of Leinster would probably be beaten by Dublin, so what in the name of God are we even trying to do in a county the size of Laois?
Quote from: High Fielder on April 04, 2016, 04:18:29 AM
I honestly believe that if Healy, O Leary, McMahon and scully were on that panel, we'd potentially be challenging to go up.
You've been on and on about Scully for years now, even in the old forum. Same thing every year. O' Leary and McMahon are retired. Do you want to bring back Tom Kelly as well while you're at it.
Lillis is ridiculously out of his depth. Playing 15 on 15 in 2016 is an absolute joke. Those that think it's McNulty's way or Lillis' way don't know a thing about the game, there is a balance available. It's no co-incidence that we conceded the most in all 4 leagues. Lillis would be fine as an U-12 manager but that's about it. In fairness to him, he didn't appoint himself.
Hard not to be #disillusioned by the state of Laois GAA at the moment. Some fantastic talent but not harnessed to it's potential. Time to change that. We need to become pro active like a Tipperary or Roscommon. The talent is NOT necessarily better in those counties, they are just harnessed in far, far better ways. Why? What we need most is progressive and smart thinking brains in charge of Laois GAA at county board level and at coaching level.
Retired prematurely but in fairness that's their choice. They are still better than what's in there and that is my point. A county this small needs its best on the pitch, irrespective of how old they are. We don't have any strength in depth, particularly in the backs.
I felt for probably 4-5 players yesterday who gave there all particularly timmons & attride without would of been beaten a lot earlier.. But to say its all lillis fault is ridiculous. We have a core group of players whos performances yest were poor/sub standard. Our half back & forward lines & midfield were destroyed by a pretty ordinary meath. So to the poster who said our fellas lack character i agree on that performance yest.
I can't believe that Lillis didn't even seem to be questioning himself and his methods. 'I don't believe in these northern systems', 'defending from deep doesn't suit Laois' - what the hell? Even Kerry and Dublin completely changed how they play football in response to the evolution of the tactical game born in the north. If he believes that we can continue to play 'the way football should be played' then he should be given his P45 now because guess what - it is no longer played that way. He is basically committing to inspiring this team on to try harder and play better with no plan.
The book firmly stops with Lillis, regarding our shambolic performances in the League.
OF COURSE it's the manager's fault. The players do what they're told. And they're told to go out and play football like it's an U-12 match. It's a joke & a reality check is needed.
If you put Lillis in charge of Dublin from the start of 2016, and a manager with a very good tactical brain in charge of Laois from the start of 2016, who would win in the Summer? I'd put my money on Laois to at least go close. THAT is how important a manager is. Imagine Dublin with all of the primitive tactics that Laois have and a manager like Lillis - they would find it hard in Leinster and certainly would not win the all ireland. Imagine them going out 15 vs 15 against a tactically astute team.
It's frustrating. The players deserve way better. They're busting a gut but it's a 1980's system they're playing. Of course they're not thriving in the system. Give them a chance at least. We need to seriously waken up and start using our brains. Imagine watching the Derry game and STILL believing that our defensive tactics don't need altering. That's what we're dealing with here.
It's heartbreaking to see players in their prime like Donie, Begley, Timmons, O Loughlin etc treated like that. It's shameful. Give the lads a proper set up. Waken up or step aside.
The thing is that Dublin have had two All-Ireland winning managers in the last few years. Maybe they are both tactical geniuses and we are all clowns down here in the country. However, I don't see Dublin as being a defensive team and I haven't seen any particular evidence of a defensive blanket.
I think people are confusing defensive blankets with simple mobility. Dublin have loads of players who can get up and down the field, players who can turn quickly, who are very quick over 30 yards (including their corner backs). They won All-Irelands playing Cian O Sullivan at midfield. They have huge pace and mobility in their team - probably more than any other team (maybe bar Donegal). This is why they are ahead of everyone else.
That's the main way that the game has changed. I remember Pat Spillane regularly turning up in his own half back and full back line. That was in the late 70s! The difference now is that all 15 players (or as many as possible) have to put that work rate in. I'm not sure that our lads are up for that.
I also felt sorry for Timmons and Attride yesterday. The defensive problem is really much further out the pitch than that.
Quote from: Keyser Söze on April 03, 2016, 07:01:36 PM
Quote from: BallyroanAbu on April 03, 2016, 06:53:58 PM
What in gods name is he on about. Its like someone playing fantasy football. 15 on 15 has long since sailed. It's laudable he wants to play 15 -15 but christ its dreaming.
It's not in the slightest bit laudable. It's laughable.
We are all entitled to our opinions on how a team should set up......but we are certainly not all entitled to a position as an IC manager.
To paraphrase a famous Tipp putdown; "I don't blame him at all, it's the fellas who gave him the job I blame!"
People here talking about John Sugrue being brought in? Was Sugrue not in contention for the job but didn't get it?!! Hard to know how you ask him in to pick the pieces up in April!
Keyser
I just read your post on the Hurling am I correct in assuming that the hurlers have a fairly impressive backroom team ie. Cummins, Cunningham, AN OTHER from Waterford a S+C guy... all of the above are getting expenses for their contributions I assume.
Now on the other hand ML we are told is a volunteer and theres no money to spare bla bla bla. and the whole thing by all accounts is shambles.
Ok I don't want to be jumping to conclusions here but can someone that knows please clarify, is it the case of "the squeaky wheel getting greased" or WTF is going on.
i have been following laois for so many years..yesterday was the worst performance i have seen in a while..no leadership on the field..and they are certainly not fit....i felt gary walsh was in hard luck to be taken off yesterday..kingston should have went before him..he was terrible..contributed notin..he wasnt the only one..its going to be very hard to get out of division 3..i nearly would love wicklow to beat them to kilkenny and be destroyed..at this stage i dont no whats going tp happen.... :)
Yeah, hoping Wicklow will beat us. Absolutely great first post there, welcomehome. Riviting stuff.
well tony what would u suggest..to go down to kilkenny and be destroyed..and thats what is going to happen the way that they are playing...
What really got to me was the fitness of our lads, they were huffing and puffing after 20 mins and out on their feet for the whole second half.
Agree with the comments about Gary Walsh, he played well whereas Kingston spent the whole day running into cover and losing possession, then throwing his hands up in the air and blaming the ref for everything instead of chasing to win back the ball. When he did run after his man his lack of fitness was plain to be seen, same with O'loughlin who looked incredibly unfit.
These guys have become leaders for us over the past few years yet when we needed leadership they were awful, running into blind alleys and kicking impossible shots which mostly went wide.
This was at times when we needed to settle things down and give the momentum back to us by scoring a few points but we really had no-one to do it. Donagher was blocked down on three occasions yet never learned from it. I could go on and on .......
Hoping Wicklow beat us is not being very helpful and I think we will win that one but beating Dublin for anyone in Leinster is almost impossible at the present time.
Hopefully we get a decent run in the qualifiers and most of these lads come back next year to get us straight back up to Div.2. A few good wins can do a lot for a team but I'm afraid management will have to do something drastic to achieve that.
Just to comment on the game and not go on a rant against the joke of a manager. I'll direct my anger at a certain Marty Duffy instead. So Evan O'Carroll was on a yellow card that was harsh in my opinion. In the second half he tracks back and tackles a Meath player on our 45. Maybe it was a free but it was an innocuous challenge, the ref thought the same and just awarded a free. The Meath manager Dowd goes mad knowing that O'Carroll was on a yellow, the Meatn crowd (who vastly outnumbered ours) followed Dowds lead and went mad. The linesman in front of the stand happened to be Marty Duffy. He decides he wants to get involved so he calls the ref over. After a short conversation O'Carroll is called back and given a second yellow card and sent off.
We were 2 points up at the time. It would have made no difference to our survival in division 2 and we probably would have lost the match anyway but you know the saying 'the ref never changes his mind'? Well if you have a manager run onto the field complaining, a noisy bunch of Meath people screaming and Marty Duffy for assistance then it is possible for the ref to change his mind. I hate Marty Duffy. And his brother.
Quote from: Stad on April 04, 2016, 04:49:16 PM
Just to comment on the game and not go on a rant against the joke of a manager. I'll direct my anger at a certain Marty Duffy instead. So Evan O'Carroll was on a yellow card that was harsh in my opinion. In the second half he tracks back and tackles a Meath player on our 45. Maybe it was a free but it was an innocuous challenge, the ref thought the same and just awarded a free. The Meath manager Dowd goes mad knowing that O'Carroll was on a yellow, the Meatn crowd (who vastly outnumbered ours) followed Dowds lead and went mad. The linesman in front of the stand happened to be Marty Duffy. He decides he wants to get involved so he calls the ref over. After a short conversation O'Carroll is called back and given a second yellow card and sent off.
We were 2 points up at the time. It would have made no difference to our survival in division 2 and we probably would have lost the match anyway but you know the saying 'the ref never changes his mind'? Well if you have a manager run onto the field complaining, a noisy bunch of Meath people screaming and Marty Duffy for assistance then it is possible for the ref to change his mind. I hate Marty Duffy. And his brother.
Evan O'Carroll kicked out after he fouled him I was right in front of it thats why the Meath crowd were going mad...
God hard to know what to make of this set up now I was all on for giving the management team a chance but from what i have seen and what I'm hearing it looks as if they need some sort of help...
I think there is a training in castlebar this thursday it will be interesting to see how many make the trip!!!
Quote from: Unlaoised on April 04, 2016, 04:52:41 PM
I think there is a training in castlebar this thursday it will be interesting to see how many make the trip!!!
At least he's finally found a pitch to train on ... :)
Quote from: Unlaoised on April 04, 2016, 04:52:41 PM
Quote from: Stad on April 04, 2016, 04:49:16 PM
Just to comment on the game and not go on a rant against the joke of a manager. I'll direct my anger at a certain Marty Duffy instead. So Evan O'Carroll was on a yellow card that was harsh in my opinion. In the second half he tracks back and tackles a Meath player on our 45. Maybe it was a free but it was an innocuous challenge, the ref thought the same and just awarded a free. The Meath manager Dowd goes mad knowing that O'Carroll was on a yellow, the Meatn crowd (who vastly outnumbered ours) followed Dowds lead and went mad. The linesman in front of the stand happened to be Marty Duffy. He decides he wants to get involved so he calls the ref over. After a short conversation O'Carroll is called back and given a second yellow card and sent off.
We were 2 points up at the time. It would have made no difference to our survival in division 2 and we probably would have lost the match anyway but you know the saying 'the ref never changes his mind'? Well if you have a manager run onto the field complaining, a noisy bunch of Meath people screaming and Marty Duffy for assistance then it is possible for the ref to change his mind. I hate Marty Duffy. And his brother.
Evan O'Carroll kicked out after he fouled him I was right in front of it thats why the Meath crowd were going mad...
God hard to know what to make of this set up now I was all on for giving the management team a chance but from what i have seen and what I'm hearing it looks as if they need some sort of help...
I think there is a training in castlebar this thursday it will be interesting to see how many make the trip!!!
May focus my anger back to Lillis so!
Warm weather training is it? In Castlebar!!!! :D
A few keys lads not going due to work commitments by all accounts .
It's been run like a club team. Heading off to Castlebar for some team bonding and some boozing I presume. Lillis has had all league to at least try to shore things up and he's refused to do so. Couldn't sort out a training pitch and training is meant to be fairly basic anyway. Players seem to be getting worse under his stewardship! It's not just in defence he has no tactics at all. Just go out and give your all is not enough.
He has a history of giving referees abuse from the sideline and he's continuing to behave like this. This is more harmful than anything as referees turn against us. If he's refused to tighten the defence up to this and in fact think he's right to leave things open, then we can only assume he'll continue this way. I've said it before be we have Dublin to play in two months (Wicklow are division 4 strugglers), I won't be going to Kilkenny if he's still in charge.
To be honest, the woeful setup would be funny if it wasn't Laois and we didn't travel all over the country to see the team. We care a lot about Laois football and how we do. The reality is though, that it appears we might as well have Basil Faulty in charge.
It's horrific to see the team, not only bereft of any decent tactics, BUT ALSO, lacking hugely in fitness AS WELL as sharpness and skill due to "no pitch being available in the whole county of Laois!". Players in their prime are looking far worse under this man. It's unacceptable.
I feel bad for us as fans, but more importantly, i feel bad for the players. If Lillis is to stay for his 1 year stewardship, he may get some help, he clearly needs it. I was all for giving the man a chance as well, but his performance has been very poor at best.
Apart from that, it's time for the county board to waken up and realise it's 2016. Time to put measures in place to improve the state of GAA in Laois. It does not have to take huge sums of money to implement a lot of common sense. We're a proud county and this type of freefall is unacceptable. I'm not saying we're all-ireland contenders, but we should be in the top 2 divisions and playing football in mid-late July at least.
In Lillis' last interview he implied that Div 3 is a very hard division, too! That's the exact same attitude he had at start of div 2 - "such a difficult division and we'll do well to stay up". This - from the manager - the guy we expect to give the players belief!!! We need that kind of attitude like a hole in the head.
In short, and this will be my last comment on it for now : it's been a very disappointing league. Still, we can turn it around if the set up realises they need to implement some drastic changes and that it's not 1982 anymore. I won't hold my breath but stranger things have happened.
I agree Evan O Carroll deserved that second yellow. It was a lack of discipline. In fairness its the first time I have seen him lash out like that. As the league is now over and I have been to six out of the seven games,
A few things clearly stand out:
1) Warm ups in early rounds were poor. 10 v 10 possession games at least sunday was an improvement.
2) The Galway and Fermanagh games cost us in the end and them games should have been treated like an All-Ireland final. if we had off showed the same passion and hunger as we did in first twenty mins against meath we would have stayed up. Team selection cost us against Galway. Preperation against Fermanagh. I'm still so angry how the county board insisted on traveling up on the morning of such an important game. Kerry even stay in Cork the night before league games in Cork!! The same thing was repeated for the Cavan Game.
3) County board need to up their game and treat the players as elite intercounty players not as an inconvience. My examples of not staying in Cavan and fermanagh are shocking but seeing players yesterday in a filling station buying drinks (Minerals and sandwiches ) twenty mins after the game doesnt give the impression that they are well looked after. I was under the impression that all teams would get a meal after training. In Micko's time that was in a hotel. I saw Derry, Tyrone and Armagh all using tracking devises on players thats the level they are at.
Even the panal were not all in the same gear. I dont know the panel but would love to talk to Ross Munnelly about the differences in set up and county board attitude between now and 2003 or even the set up under mcnulty! Id say you could write a book about the differences.
4) "The Supporters"- Its official we have the worst support in the county. Yesterday the Laois crowd was a joke. Outnumbered for such an important game. We are well able to get 3-4000 people at county finals should be the same for yesterday. Again back to 03-06 20,000+ at leinster finals!! cant even get 10% of that now. We can blame the set up for the apthy but its been like this since the 2009 leinster semi against Kildare. Even when we won promotion to Division one in 2011 there was no buzz around the team only doom and gloom with the supporters about style. Campare that to the Joy in Cavan or Roscommon with their promotions. In 2012 we must have brought only 1,000 to the All-Ireland 1/4 against Dublin a record low.
5) Management- Dissapointed is an understatement- Before the league I expected a passionate laois man would inspire the panel during the league. I had high hopes due to his record in Kildare and Carlow and even with Laois minors last year. Glad he got players to play but we need to bring in a defence coach and even a strength and conditioning coach.
Ps. What was the story with Begley, cotter and seale not playing. Injured?
With regards lillis club record, his championship wins with palatine in carlow and st laurences in kildare were with mark kavanagh as co manager, who was a coach with westmeath last year when they got to the leinster final so you could argue who the brains behind those victories, particularly considering how hot headed an individual lillis appears to be
Quote from: OTF on April 04, 2016, 01:10:52 PM
Quote from: Keyser Söze on April 03, 2016, 07:01:36 PM
Quote from: BallyroanAbu on April 03, 2016, 06:53:58 PM
What in gods name is he on about. Its like someone playing fantasy football. 15 on 15 has long since sailed. It's laudable he wants to play 15 -15 but christ its dreaming.
It's not in the slightest bit laudable. It's laughable.
We are all entitled to our opinions on how a team should set up......but we are certainly not all entitled to a position as an IC manager.
To paraphrase a famous Tipp putdown; "I don't blame him at all, it's the fellas who gave him the job I blame!"
People here talking about John Sugrue being brought in? Was Sugrue not in contention for the job but didn't get it?!! Hard to know how you ask him in to pick the pieces up in April!
Keyser
I just read your post on the Hurling am I correct in assuming that the hurlers have a fairly impressive backroom team ie. Cummins, Cunningham, AN OTHER from Waterford a S+C guy... all of the above are getting expenses for their contributions I assume.
Now on the other hand ML we are told is a volunteer and theres no money to spare bla bla bla. and the whole thing by all accounts is shambles.
Ok I don't want to be jumping to conclusions here but can someone that knows please clarify, is it the case of "the squeaky wheel getting greased" or WTF is going on.
Well, I'm not 100% sure on this, but one man in the hurling set up is definitely not being paid.
Also, many believe that this man, whom many want to step aside, is actually financing much of the backroom team personally.
I heard that the liikes of video analysis of opposing teams etc which is commonplace nowadays with all intercounty set ups is non existent under the current management. Apparantley the management and panel never sat down once to have a look at Fermanagh before they travelled to play them.
Now most players will tell you that they get very bored with too much video analysis but when players are surprised by the fact there was none at all tells a story about the preparation being done.
Quote from: redsetanta on April 05, 2016, 10:14:42 AM
I heard that the liikes of video analysis of opposing teams etc which is commonplace nowadays with all intercounty set ups is non existent under the current management. Apparantley the management and panel never sat down once to have a look at Fermanagh before they travelled to play them.
Now most players will tell you that they get very bored with too much video analysis but when players are surprised by the fact there was none at all tells a story about the preparation being done.
This is been done at club level in some parts of the county. Begs belief why an intercounty setup not doing something similar. It's a case for Laois of 'Evolve or become extinct'. Sums up the setup in both codes as a whole. We desperately cling onto the glory days instead of trying to make more in this county. Mentality needs to change big time. I hate being pessimistic on this but it's very frustrating to see potential going down the drain.
Very disheartening to hear among other things players eating sandwiches at a service station an hour after playing with there county .
I've never been so disheartened about the state of Laois football. It's nothing short of disgraceful that players have to eat out of a service station after a match or even training. For that the buck stops with the county board. As for the playing side of things, it looks like Wooly was right. Lillis has been a shambles!!! Trying to play 15 on 15. This isn't the80s. There seems to be no plan or system of play. Plus fitness levels seem to be pretty low. It seems another year wasted.
Its not too late yet if the powers that be have a word in his ear and give him an ultimatum, shape up or ship out...
If not its going to come down to the players to do a Cork on it and speak up, even walk away if needs be.
How in God's name have we reached this situation after things looking so good a few years ago..
Indeed Junior, good post. There needs to be accountability. Otherwise people will just hide and pass on the blame.
WHO is responsible for the shambolic set up of 2016?
If there's no money, where is it gone?! Why can't we afford VERY basic things like food after a match and training?
I play for a very small club side, we have no money at ALL. But we're still treated to good food after EVERY training and especially EVERY match. Laois don't pay Lillis a thing so WHERE is the money for hotels?!
Disgraceful scenes and people need to become accountable.
Quote from: Tony on April 05, 2016, 09:47:28 PM
Indeed Junior, good post. There needs to be accountability. Otherwise people will just hide and pass on the blame.
WHO is responsible for the shambolic set up of 2016?
If there's no money, where is it gone?! Why can't we afford VERY basic things like food after a match and training?
I play for a very small club side, we have no money at ALL. But we're still treated to good food after EVERY training and especially EVERY match. Laois don't pay Lillis a thing so WHERE is the money for hotels?!
Disgraceful scenes and people need to become accountable.
Would I be right in saying the development of the Centre of Excellence beside OMP have anything to do with money or lack of it?
I know for a fact that the players got fed after the Meath game. Whether they choose to eat it is up to themselves. The players are looked after with food after each match and training, so we can dispel that rumor.
What annoyed me about the league campaign is that we have seen no progression from the first game to the last. I like most, was skeptical when Lillis got the job but was prepared to give him a chance. As the league wore on my patience also wore thin.
The players by the end of the league should be at least fitter and more knowledgeable about the teams game plan. From what I've seen the players are still unfit and the manager has no plan or structure.
The Meath game illustrated this. We played the same naive gameplan of 15 on 15 and when meath got a run on us the answer was to throw Robbie Kehoe in as a sweeper. He looked lost out there.
In my opinion the county board needs a right good shakeup. The current board seem to have a monopoly over the positions. As soon as a term is finished that person is given another role. We need new blood, the whole thing is gone stale and this has reflected in the supporter numbers.
I would love to see a video of the interview Lillis gave for the job.
Ok it's going to be very hard to work out here what actually is fact and whats not with regards to expensed, but what's clear is there's very little money being spent on team preparation right now. This is not Lillis's or Chedder's fault, this is entirely the responsibility of the CB and almost every CB in the county has the same problem.
They need to get out there and do something about it, it's not good enough to say O!! we don't have any money for team preparation we need to balance the books.They need to get their act together, I really can't understand the club delegates allowing them to get away with this
Some very good points being made by everyone here but lets not loose the run of ourselves...
Few random points that most of us know but just putting them there in no particular order for people to glance over and agree or disagree.
1.We all know Laois football needs a shake up this has been the case for about seven years now since 2009 when we lost heavy to Kildare in the Leinster Semi and then got hammered by Down in Newry.
2.McNulty to be fair made a difference and got us to a level above what we should have been at with the players he had at his disposable but even tho the football was horrible to watch maybe he was on to something and should have been given more time.
3.We have probably a better squad now maybe defensively we are short a few but is there any reason why Meridith Begley and O'Loughlin can't play there like they have before in their careers.
4.The County board and its make up have certainly being behind other counties as regards the standard of facilities for training and how players are looked after...The likes of Dublin Mayo Cork Kerry and the Northern teams would laugh at our set up to be fair.
5.The County board needs a shake up and quickly some new young blood must be appointed with fresh ideas in both finance and the structure of our games in this county.
6.Appointing Mick Lillis was probably a cheap option but he had a good record that you couldn't take away from him and in the main seemed a popular enough choice from what was available and I for one was willing to give him a chance.
7.He has got more players back than we have had in a few years that must be a positive going forward that lads are willing to kick for the Blue and white and kick for him.
8.His tactics now look dated and it's obvious he needs help on the art of defending and the analysis of other teams before we play them,who's to say he hasn't bit the biscuit on this and is now working on it.He certainly brings great passion to the job and if he can get maybe that little bit of tactical nous needed at this level then maybe we can progress.
9.We still have some quality players Brody,Timmons,Quigley,Begley,O'Carroll,Kingston,Cahilanne,O'Loughlin would get on a lot of county teams in my Opinion infact probably on most bar the likes of Dublin Kerry Mayo and Donegal's of this country.
10.The summer ahead is attractive as a fan and as a player we have a tricky but winnable tie against Wicklow and then the Dubs in Nolan park and although we might be up against it they are still out of Croke Park and it will be a superb atmosphere that every player should jump at the chance of playing in.
It will probably be the biggest crowd that Nolan park has ever seen can you Imagine if Laois played well and got close or even won????Players must dream about this as I do even as far fetched as that dream may sound.Its only two years ago we were leading the Dubs by two points at half time imagine if that was in Nolan Park???????????
11.I presume the players read this site as they are involved like ourselves in so much social media so lets give them some positive vibes for once.They are training 3/4 times a week and probably more to represent this county and I know how much time and effort that takes.
12.I'll leave it on this note ...could this team playing for each other and with the right tactics give us a run in this years championship I think for one it could.
1.Brody 2.Attride 3.Timmons 4,Begley 5.Strong 6.O'Loughlin 7.O'Connor 8.Meaney 9.Quigley 10.Meridth(play a sweepers role)11.O'Loughlin 12.O'Carroll 13.Walsh 14.Kingston 15.Donoher(sweeper aswell)
That leaves you Robbie Kehoe,Adam farrell and Gareth Dillion as cover for the backs..and Paul Kingston Paul Cahilanne and Ross Munnelly as cover for the forwards...
The team is only my opinion and the I could have swapped a few there Robbie Kehoe being an example.
Maybe bring in the u21s Eoin Lowry, Tom Shiled ,Robbie Dowling, Brian Daly , Michael Kehoe and Sean Moore to shake things up a bit and give fresh competition
Look at what Micko did with Donie Brennan in 2004 straight into the panel, and started and played well in a Leinster final.
I'm not dismissing the lads already there like Trevor Collins Danny O'Reilly Nigel Murphy Evan Costello and anyone else I forgot but why not include these u21 lads in the sessions see what their fitness is like as we get into ball work ther is over five weeks till we face Wicklow ...
I hear this game is in O'Moore park as well not Aughrim a double header with Louth and Carlow!
In all the doom and gloom over the weekend for Laois GAA lets try and make the best of it going forward!!!!
Remember there are two senior panels to prepare here. There is no money coming in so where do the CB get the money to finance all of this?
Great post, Unlaoised. At the moment you've JOL in at number 6 and 11 but apart from that, great post. A bit of optimism is nice. Look, I'm immensely proud of the players. We as fans don't expect an all-ireland win, just for everyone to give their all. We're seeing everyone give their all, lets hope we get some tactics & preparation with that.
The players are provided with food after every game, Bosco Ramsbottom was even in Enniskillen to feed them after the game with Fermanagh, so if a player wanted to eat at a petrol station after the game, I'd imagine that's down to the player. The food was there.
The issue of video analysis was brought up earlier as well. All of Laois' games are recorded, as well as statistics being kept. There is a stats team that is at all of Laois' games, usually consisting of around four lads, from Stradbally, who have been doing it for the last four or five years (McNulty put them in place and they have remained under TOF and Lillis). What is done with the information they collect, I don't know. From the outside looking in, I'd be tempted to say 'not a lot.'
The Centre of Excellence probably is a bit of a drain on resources, but it didn't cost Laois a penny to buy the land, so we're not paying off loans for it or anything like that. The same goes for the work on the terrace, the money for that came from outside the county. Money is an issue though, particularly if you want to be ambitious. We are one of only five counties to compete in the top two Divisions in the leagues, as well as the two championships. The others are Dublin, Cork, Galway and Kerry (who only came up from the Christy Ring this year). Compared to all of those, our population is way smaller, and we bring in significantly less in sponsorship as well, so it's a huge job to come up with the money we need. Outside of sponsorship money, we'd be relying on money from fundraisers and from clubs, and most clubs are hard pressed enough as it is. We probably need to start a supporters club or something to that effect, get more business involved and work it that way. The problem we have is, with no one going to games, we are not an attractive option for a sponsor. There's little profile to be gained from sponsoring us, unfortunately.
In the absence of money, you'd need a well organised and dynamic county board to find solutions to the problems. The lack of change on the CB is a worry, in that any organisation that receives no fresh impetus is bound to struggle. The problem is that there was no one outside of the current CB members nominated for a position at last year's convention, so there appears to be no appetite out there to change things up. As a county we probably need it to happen, because it's not a good scenario to find ourselves in. Lads left in jobs for five years with no pressure to work hard in order to keep it, or improve things, is a recipe for disaster. I was told last year that there are some CB members who don't even attend games in O'Moore Park. I don't know if that's true, but it's worrying if it is.
As for the football, I hate to say it but I think this year is a right off already. I wouldn't be confident about beating Wicklow, we are sitting ducks for that game after all the giving out we did last year over not getting to play Dublin in O'Moore Park. That game is like an All-Ireland for Wicklow and if we can't build up a bit of morale between now and then, we could find ourselves in a dogfight we're not prepared for. I know Wicklow are poor and have had a bad league, but I can't see them not being up for the game, and their U-21s gave us a right rattle. If we do win, I'd worry what Dublin would do to us. We seem intent on leaving 30-40 yards of space in front of our full-back line, and Dublin will annihilate us if we do that. Either way, if we lose to Wicklow, or beat them and lose to Dublin, I can see a wave of lads heading to the US this summer. The body language of the players before, during and after games isn't good, and if they were offered a few months and few pound to go Stateside for the summer, I can see a few of them jumping at the chance (and I wouldn't blame them).
Quote from: Tony on April 06, 2016, 03:17:41 PM
Great post, Unlaoised. At the moment you've JOL in at number 6 and 11 but apart from that, great post. A bit of optimism is nice. Look, I'm immensely proud of the players. We as fans don't expect an all-ireland win, just for everyone to give their all. We're seeing everyone give their all, lets hope we get some tactics & preparation with that.
Oops I didn't notice that ...then Robbie Kehoe to corner back and Begley to Number 6 ....
Steven Seagal thats a decent post I know Bosco feeds the team and his food is decent by all accounts but we still are well behind other counties on the whole set up.
I can't see Wicklow being a problem they just don't have the players to beat us especially up here!
I think players might even drop off the panel before the summer! Can't see many of them being enthusiastic about returning next year either. It really is turning out to be a shocking appointment. You have to wonder what Mick Dempsey and co were thinking? Was there really no one better?
thanks stephen segal its good to find out whats actually going on rather than rumours that cant be substaniated..
Unlaoised, great post and I love your optimism unlaoised but i dont think its based in realism.
We were a mess on Sunday. The ran through the middle of our defence again and picked us off all day.
We just seemed like a bunch of individuals not a team. the only tactic i could make out
was to hit every ball high to midfield where we were getting destoryed. They mixed their kick outs and won
numerous short ones, ran it up the field, few simple hand passes and kicked over from 35 yards out.
Brody would then launch a kick out to midfield which we seemed to lose nearly every one and so it began again.
People say the game turned on evan getting sent off but i dont think it did. They had our number from the 10th minute on.
Several players looked unfit. maybe that was from chasing shadows but my suspicion is that we're just not at the level of the other teams fitness wise.
I think Lillis has been looking to build up the team gradually for the championship and thought we would survive in division 2.
But that just dosent cut it any more. Division 2 is a serious division with team training from early winter. You'll be found out if your fitness is not up there.
Like steven seagal says if we lose to wicklow or get annihilatedby the dubs chances are a rake of lads will leg it.
2016 looks like a write off. Next year could see several retirements. We saw mcmahon and oleary go at 29 ..
Laois GAA is a bit of a mess. But look at roscommon, monaghan and cavan. If things are done right ..
Exactly. If things are done right...
We are blessed with more talent than what our population would suggest we have. We've had this more often than not since the great minor days of the late 90's.
I just wish we could harness that talent correctly. Seems to be a general apathy about regarding the poor state of Laois GAA.
I'd just really enjoy seeing good pro active minds getting stuck into improving the GAA scene in Laois. The talent is there but the set up stinks. Unfortunately we're getting more like an Offaly or Carlow at the moment rather than a Tipperary or Roscommon. Who's to say that must continue though. Surely someone has the necessary authority with a brain and some passion for Laois GAA to make positive and tangible strides within the county..SURELY. We're a proud GAA county and we need to show it.
I really think John Sugrue is the man to change things with in this county .I've seen him working with teams and he is superb with under age talent as well..
What about getting Colm Begley involved in the set up hie must have a lot of experience of top class coaching in Parnells in Dublin.
Contrast the Tyrone approach to grooming managers to our own:
http://www.rte.ie/sport/gaa/2016/0407/780119-monaghan-under-21-ciaran-mcbride-tyrone/ (http://www.rte.ie/sport/gaa/2016/0407/780119-monaghan-under-21-ciaran-mcbride-tyrone/)
Quote from: blueandwhite1 on April 07, 2016, 12:53:04 PM
Contrast the Tyrone approach to grooming managers to our own:
http://www.rte.ie/sport/gaa/2016/0407/780119-monaghan-under-21-ciaran-mcbride-tyrone/ (http://www.rte.ie/sport/gaa/2016/0407/780119-monaghan-under-21-ciaran-mcbride-tyrone/)
Streets ahead in every aspect but it doesn't mean we can't start somewhere !
Even in my long post the Short term needs to be addressed I.E the senior team going forward for this year...
anyword on how many traveled to Mayo for the training camp?
Positives:
Both Armagh and Kildare got to the all ireland quater finals in 2014 and 2015 after being relegated to division 3.
So we can turn our season around.
If a defensive plan can be put in place we can have a decent summer.
To see off Wicklow, to hold Dublin to 10 points and to have 2/3 games in qualifiers would be decent and achievable.
Looking back on league it wasnt all doom and gloom.
Lillis has blooded many new players and has got many guys back playing who had not committed in recent years.
2nd half performance was decent against Galway- good win in Armagh, decent against Tyrone, ok Fermanagh was bad, should have beaten Derry, competitive against Cavan, good 45 minutes v Meath.
I thought guys fought very well before Evan got that dubious 2nd yellow.
If the defense can be shored up, we can salvage the summer.
Biggest concern for me is the lack of support. Yeah fine was in Breffni Park and its a long journey for fans but no excuse not to get to home games. I thought the Cavan fans were a credit to themselves and are worth a few points to their team.
Lets hope guys will work on preparation, fitness, tactics in next few weeks and we can have a great summer and get some positive results.
Laois ABU.
Quote from: County Man on April 07, 2016, 06:58:19 PM
Positives:
Both Armagh and Kildare got to the all ireland quater finals in 2014 and 2015 after being relegated to division 3.
So we can turn our season around.
If a defensive plan can be put in place we can have a decent summer.
To see off Wicklow, to hold Dublin to 10 points and to have 2/3 games in qualifiers would be decent and achievable.
Looking back on league it wasnt all doom and gloom.
Lillis has blooded many new players and has got many guys back playing who had not committed in recent years.
2nd half performance was decent against Galway- good win in Armagh, decent against Tyrone, ok Fermanagh was bad, should have beaten Derry, competitive against Cavan, good 45 minutes v Meath.
I thought guys fought very well before Evan got that dubious 2nd yellow.
If the defense can be shored up, we can salvage the summer.
Biggest concern for me is the lack of support. Yeah fine was in Breffni Park and its a long journey for fans but no excuse not to get to home games. I thought the Cavan fans were a credit to themselves and are worth a few points to their team.
Lets hope guys will work on preparation, fitness, tactics in next few weeks and we can have a great summer and get some positive results.
Laois ABU.
Amazing someone posting a positive outlook ......
I'm in agreement but we shouldn't have to work on our Fitness now that should be all done it should be all ball work now and tactics...
Ont thing we need to work on and its the most basic skill is our hand passing we are dreadful at it...
It should be going to the chest every player should be able to hand pass it both sides(its a skill in itself)especially when bottled up in the modern game...
Great examples of players that were good at this were Beano,Gary Kavanagh wolly ...Quigley can do it aswell its a simple thing but every inch can be vital.
I agree with you we can still have a decent run i'd be hopng if we get back on track with a decent few challange games and beat Wicklow well we could go into the dublin game optimistic of at least being competitive.
Lillis must study videos of the 2014 performance in croker esp the first half when we really got under there skin and but for the difference in the benches that day it would have being closer to 11 points...
I Remember Donie ross Finn and Meridith being emmense in the first half that day Finn bullied Flynn
QuoteI really think John Sugrue is the man to change things with in this county .I've seen him working with teams and he is superb with under age talent as well..
I'd be very wary of anointing one man a saviour. The issues we need to fix are far beyond the scope of one individual. Sugrue is an excellent coach, but we can't expect him to be the solution. We need more than that. It would be nice to get him involved, but if he is coaching South Kerry again this year then we can rule that out. We have two full-time football coaching officers in the county, I'd be more inclined to ask questions of them before I'd ask a volunteer to come in and sort things out.
Quote from: Unlaoised on April 08, 2016, 11:22:53 AM
Quote from: County Man on April 07, 2016, 06:58:19 PM
Positives:
Both Armagh and Kildare got to the all ireland quater finals in 2014 and 2015 after being relegated to division 3.
So we can turn our season around.
If a defensive plan can be put in place we can have a decent summer.
To see off Wicklow, to hold Dublin to 10 points and to have 2/3 games in qualifiers would be decent and achievable.
Looking back on league it wasnt all doom and gloom.
Lillis has blooded many new players and has got many guys back playing who had not committed in recent years.
2nd half performance was decent against Galway- good win in Armagh, decent against Tyrone, ok Fermanagh was bad, should have beaten Derry, competitive against Cavan, good 45 minutes v Meath.
I thought guys fought very well before Evan got that dubious 2nd yellow.
If the defense can be shored up, we can salvage the summer.
Biggest concern for me is the lack of support. Yeah fine was in Breffni Park and its a long journey for fans but no excuse not to get to home games. I thought the Cavan fans were a credit to themselves and are worth a few points to their team.
Lets hope guys will work on preparation, fitness, tactics in next few weeks and we can have a great summer and get some positive results.
Laois ABU.
Amazing someone posting a positive outlook ......
I'm in agreement but we shouldn't have to work on our Fitness now that should be all done it should be all ball work now and tactics...
Ont thing we need to work on and its the most basic skill is our hand passing we are dreadful at it...
It should be going to the chest every player should be able to hand pass it both sides(its a skill in itself)especially when bottled up in the modern game...
Great examples of players that were good at this were Beano,Gary Kavanagh wolly ...Quigley can do it aswell its a simple thing but every inch can be vital.
I agree with you we can still have a decent run i'd be hopng if we get back on track with a decent few challange games and beat Wicklow well we could go into the dublin game optimistic of at least being competitive.
Lillis must study videos of the 2014 performance in croker esp the first half when we really got under there skin and but for the difference in the benches that day it would have being closer to 11 points...
I Remember Donie ross Finn and Meridith being emmense in the first half that day Finn bullied Flynn
This is the point we're now playing exactly as we did in '14 only for Brody we would have being beaten by 20 points. We followed that up by scraping past Fermanagh and Wexford, mind you Pat Pillane expressed himself "mildly entertained" with the type of football we played.
The mighty Tipp eventually ran straight down the middle and put 4 past us.
If Lillis wants to look at CD's let him dig out the'12 version on how to park a bus put all 15 behind the ball and f**k Pat Spillane and Nolan Park.
Was away on hols lads, out of the loop the last week - any challenge games coming up, I haven't heard - wicklow not too far away. Hopefully we're playing a bit of ball if we've found a pitch at this point :)
Graiguecullen had something up on Twitter the other day about a Barney Hennessy Cup final, with Laois playing Westmeath in a challenge game on the day. I think it was Saturday week, not sure of the time. You'd find it on the Graigue Twitter or Facebook pages I'd say.
This information might not be right but ?I heard we are playing westmeath and Clare...It didn't come from the usual source so I'm not sure.
I hear the training thing in Castlebar was a great success they had a ball and done a little bit of training as well ;D ;D
Quote from: steven seagal on April 12, 2016, 12:23:33 PM
Graiguecullen had something up on Twitter the other day about a Barney Hennessy Cup final, with Laois playing Westmeath in a challenge game on the day. I think it was Saturday week, not sure of the time. You'd find it on the Graigue Twitter or Facebook pages I'd say.
(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CfyJmMBWQAA2n9Y.jpg)
I hear they could be playing Down as well!
That Westmeath game is one I will attend!
Correct me if im wrong but is this not the third time we have played Westmeath in Challenge matches since January !? The Heath and St Lomans were the venues I believe . Don't see an enormous benefit playing a Division 4 side again so close to championship .
I heard that the Westmeath game is cancelled (by Westmeath), can anyone confirm this ???
Quote from: Faugheen on April 13, 2016, 12:22:09 PM
I heard that the Westmeath game is cancelled (by Westmeath), can anyone confirm this ???
Can't confirm this.....
Quote from: Unlaoised on April 13, 2016, 12:43:38 PM
Quote from: Faugheen on April 13, 2016, 12:22:09 PM
I heard that the Westmeath game is cancelled (by Westmeath), can anyone confirm this ???
Can't confirm this.....
Me either.......
Quote from: les Antiques on April 13, 2016, 10:26:50 AM
Correct me if im wrong but is this not the third time we have played Westmeath in Challenge matches since January !? The Heath and St Lomans were the venues I believe . Don't see an enormous benefit playing a Division 4 side again so close to championship .
Maybe Westmeath have cancelled because as division 4 side they don't feel they would learn enough from playing a division 3 side ahead of the championship.... ;)
Not sure we will learn anything more from challenges anyway. If we aren't working on tactics and strategy then we might get past Wicklow at a push but the summer will be a short one thereafter.
I've had pretty decent expecations at the start of most years for the last 10 years but this year is my all time low in terms of expectations :).
Never know though - my high expecations didn't do us a whole lot of good in the last ten years apart from a couple of years (Hey McNulty wasn't half bad when you analyse where we got to) ::)
Maybe we just have to face, that we're an average side, and we're getting average results. I still believe that we can do better though.
To be fair, the lads are busting a gut, and that's all anyone can ask for. Looking forward to cheering on the lads in Summer. I HOPE I'll be surprised at where we get to. Laois abu 8)
Quote from: Tony on April 13, 2016, 04:33:15 PM
I've had pretty decent expecations at the start of most years for the last 10 years but this year is my all time low in terms of expectations :).
Never know though - my high expecations didn't do us a whole lot of good in the last ten years apart from a couple of years (Hey McNulty wasn't half bad when you analyse where we got to) ::)
Maybe we just have to face, that we're an average side, and we're getting average results. I still believe that we can do better though.
To be fair, the lads are busting a gut, and that's all anyone can ask for. Looking forward to cheering on the lads in Summer. I HOPE I'll be surprised at where we get to. Laois abu 8)
Tony tony tony ...your far to positive for this thread you will get banned!!! ;D ;D ;D
Yeah. Comes a time when you realise that we're not all-ireland contenders, ever - so if your team is trying their best, what more can you ask. Otherwise you'd be miserable watching your team. Success is seeing your team trying their best. As a supporter, If you set high expectations for an average ranked side like Laois, then you're probably gonna be dissappointed. I'm gonna enjoy Laois in 2016, as, even if we don't have the ability in management and players, we know they're trying their best. I know this is a LOT different to my previous posts but and the end of the day, it's a game. If they represent the county as best they can, we can't ask for more.
And there's ALWAYS that 1 in 100 chance that we'll do a Leiceter.
Totally agree Tony, lets see the players do all they can do and hope the Co.Board stand up and do the same. That's all we as supporters and the players want..
Quote from: Tony on April 14, 2016, 05:18:41 PM
Yeah. Comes a time when you realise that we're not all-ireland contenders, ever - so if your team is trying their best, what more can you ask. Otherwise you'd be miserable watching your team. Success is seeing your team trying their best. As a supporter, If you set high expectations for an average ranked side like Laois, then you're probably gonna be dissappointed. I'm gonna enjoy Laois in 2016, as, even if we don't have the ability in management and players, we know they're trying their best. I know this is a LOT different to my previous posts but and the end of the day, it's a game. If they represent the county as best they can, we can't ask for more.
And there's ALWAYS that 1 in 100 chance that we'll do a Leiceter.
While I respect you as a poster Tony I'm not sure about this post.
Yes I'm an always look on the bright side sort of person and I probably big up Laois teams more than most on here...
The attitude of ahhh Sure we aren't great but sure we are Laois what do we expect doesn't work in my book...
Its a real midlands trait and it's the reason why counties like ourselves Carlow Westmeath Offaly(recently)Longford never have much success.This needs to be changed I know your being realistic but this is the way our county board thinks and this is the route of our problems.
We have very few people in this county that have get up and go ...Its always the same come out of matches beaten and its "ahhhh sure what did we expect"..."I'm not going up there again to watch them"
"Laois are Laois thank God i didn't wear my colours"
Looks at the likes of Monaghan/Roscommon with populations similar to ourselves now I know they don't have hurling to concentrate on but really is there a reason we couldn't get close to the likes of them??
Even the people in the likes of Louth go to matches with big expectations they bring color and they are proud of their wee county....
I'm not having a go at anyone in particular but this "ahh sure"attitude needs to change or we will never ever see bright days ahead.
Micko to a certain extent changed it he raised the standards of things and look where that got us.
I'm proud to be a Laois man I'm very vocal when I'm at games where as other Laois people sit on their hands nearly afraid to clap a score in case people would think your from Laois??
Before the success of the minors we were probably the worst county to bring color to games I've been going to games for years(not just my own county) and even back when Wexford were not having much success they brough passion and color to games the same with Clare and Limerick ...I'm talking about late 80's when these counties hadn't won thing in decades ..
Even county has a dream each year I dream we all dream is there any point in dreaming with low expectations as a well known add on the TV quotes now "If your dream doesn't scare you ,your dream isn't big enough"
Imagine getting over Wicklow decent performance no injuries the squad raring to go ...#Positive vibes(WE AIN'T PLAYING THE DUBS IN CROKER).... Who's to say we can't shock the Dubs in Nolan park ....Bigger upsets have happened in sporting history ...........
I'm a realist and I know it's unlikely and I'm sure even the players might think that but if we could just change our mentality a little and go with the expectation i bit higher I think this county as a whole could benefit......
Rant over ;D
My own father always says this and it drives me mad." ah sure once they put up a good show". Makes my blood boil. With that sort of attitude your beat before you go out.
Looks at the likes of Monaghan/Roscommon with populations similar to ourselves now I know they don't have hurling to concentrate on but really is there a reason we couldn't get close to the likes of them??
I honestly think you've answered your own question. Half of our small county has no interest in football and half no interest in hurling. It is hard to overcome.
Great post, Unlaoised, and I totally agree. I just know that this year is already pretty much a write off by the sounds of things, so, mentally I'm changing my focus for the year. Otherwise I'd just stop going to all the matches as it'd drive me absolutely nuts. I'm just going to support the player's effort this year.
I know we can do a LOT, lot better, but that's for later - This year it seems like we're a poorly organised, poorly prepared headless chicken type team but by god we try our hardest. And I'm ok with that for this year.
HOWEVER, I'm going to personally contact county board members with ideas for progression and follow up with them shortly. This is simply not good enough. Change starts on the ground. 2016 is a write off but 2017 should and will be different.
Laois are playing Kildare in Monasterevin on Sunday 1 May at 4 o'clock.
Kilkennys performance this weekend underlines again the ludicrous decision to bring Dublins opening match in Leinster to Nowlan Park . Kilkenny contribute absolutely nothing to Gaelic football . That decision continues to baffle me considering how much emphasis Laois put on been a dual county .
The Leinster representative stated that the reason it was there was purely because there were more seats and therefore more people could go. Figure that one out!
I wonder how much more people can fit inside Nowlan Park to OMoore park ? Are the GAA that desperate for that extra few quid . !?
If they were that bothered surely the Laois CB could kick up about it and have it played in O'Moore Park. I doubt the Dubs care that much where they play it.
Wouldn't have anything to do with money now would it?
Jesus lads lets worry about Wicklow first....it scares me the way some of ye are talking about playing Dublin in Kilkenny with a very real banana skin awaiting.....nothing is guaranteed
I think your missing the point Monument Road !! It's not about who plays Dublin .. It's about where it's played ! We all realise that Wicklow and Laois will be very close and we will be in trouble if we repeat that Meath performance amongst others . The fact of the matter is Wicklow or anyone else should not have to go down to Kilkenny a hurling dynasty to play Dublin . There are many football orientated Towns in Leinster that are well capable of hosting the Dubs.
And yes it doesn't matter where Dublin play the likelihood is they will win comfortably. But Gaa is a community that depends on helping each out in hindsight. Kilkenny is a vibrant city with fantastic amenities but surely the Leinster Council realise this venue was a mistake . It's like putting the Munster hurling final in Kilarney !!!
Common sense in this case has not prevailed .
Quote from: les Antiques on April 18, 2016, 06:33:28 PM
I think your missing the point Monument Road !! It's not about who plays Dublin .. It's about where it's played ! We all realise that Wicklow and Laois will be very close and we will be in trouble if we repeat that Meath performance amongst others . The fact of the matter is Wicklow or anyone else should not have to go down to Kilkenny a hurling dynasty to play Dublin . There are many football orientated Towns in Leinster that are well capable of hosting the Dubs.
If they were that bothered surely the Laois CB could kick up about it and have it played in O'Moore Park. I doubt the Dubs care that much where they play it.Wouldn't have anything to do with money now would it? A few seem to have forgotten about wicklow....and why would the laois CB kick up ....why hav'nt Wicklow CB kicked up
Portlaoise as a town are losing out and have more too lose than Wicklow in the that sense . ( Aughrim was never going to host the Dubs ) Hotels pubs etc would be all given a huge early summer boost with 10-15 thousand Dubs in town for the night . Dublin have finally come out of Croker again and I just believed a footballing venue would have been picked . Whether it's Wicklow or Laois playing them is Irrelevant. Your correct Momentum Road in saying money is a factor .
It should be in O'Moore Park IF IF IF IF IF Laois win. However, this will set a precedent and I think we will see the likes of Kildare Laois and Offaly etc hosting the Dubs in the Leinster Championship in the coming years. In my opinion, it should be in Wicklow if Wicklow win - I don't care about the capacity. It should not boil down to money - it should be about fairness (I almost laugh when I type that - the GAA is not at all fair at the moment).
Hogan Stand reporting that Paul Cotter and Paul Kingston have left the panel. Disappointing if true.
Correct the game should be played in either Portlaoise or Aughrim and not Kilkenny. This is all about facilitating Dublin fans and nothing to do with fair play.
Is the upgrade in OMP even ready before we ask why game isn't in OMP should we bea Wicklow?
Disappointing to see Cotter and P Kingston leave panel.
I thought a few might go after the league ..
Cotter has dropped down the pecking order and was unlikely to see game time i suppose
P Kingston is a surprise, he saw a good bit of action in the league .. would have been pushing for a starting place ..
Match scheduled in Graigue this weekend against Westmeath definitely postponed.
Quote from: les Antiques on April 20, 2016, 06:05:48 PM
Match scheduled in Graigue this weekend against Westmeath definitely postponed.
Called off, not sure if it will go ahead at all now...
From the Graiguecullen Twitter page:
(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CgfFqETUIAQyGTM.jpg)
Laois Played Wexford Tuesday night up here....
It was an easy win Wexford were terrible ...Laois were short a load of players not playing for one reason or another...
No Quigley,Brody, O'Carroll, Donie,C Begley,Timmons,Kehoe,the list goes on some of these guys haven't trained since the Meath game either which is worrying. ....Not sure of the score but I think they won by about 10-12 points...
I hope things improve regarding the set up and injuries!
Where's 'up here' Unlaoised.
If it's Dublin will you post up any other matches that may be on up here as I would be interested in tipping along to them.
Cheers.
Any chance of the team that started Unlaoised !? Where was it played ?
Quote from: Unlaoised on April 21, 2016, 04:15:56 PM
Laois Played Wexford Tuesday night up here....
It was an easy win Wexford were terrible ...Laois were short a load of players not playing for one reason or another...
No Quigley,Brody, O'Carroll, Donie,C Begley,Timmons,Kehoe,the list goes on some of these guys haven't trained since the Meath game either which is worrying. ....Not sure of the score but I think they won by about 10-12 points...
I hope things improve regarding the set up and injuries!
Quote from: les Antiques on April 21, 2016, 06:21:06 PM
Any chance of the team that started Unlaoised !? Where was it played ?
Quote from: Unlaoised on April 21, 2016, 04:15:56 PM
Laois Played Wexford Tuesday night up here....
It was an easy win Wexford were terrible ...Laois were short a load of players not playing for one reason or another...
No Quigley,Brody, O'Carroll, Donie,C Begley,Timmons,Kehoe,the list goes on some of these guys haven't trained since the Meath game either which is worrying. ....Not sure of the score but I think they won by about 10-12 points...
I hope things improve regarding the set up and injuries!
It was something like:
McDonald,
S Murphy,
P O'Sullivan,
Seale
Dillon
Strong
D O'Connor
J Farrell
Meaney
Donoher
O'Loughlin
Meredith
Keane
Walsh
Munnelly
Game was in O'Moore Park.
Thanks Shapes
Played Offaly Sunday in Clonbullogue. Draw match. Seemed to be a strong team out going by the scorers. Walsh got a goal. Donoher 3 pts, Donie a couple, Ross a couple, JOL and Meaney scored too.
Playing Kildare this weekend I think....And then I think down in dublin in the next few weeks..
That's right Unlaoised .. Playing Kildare at 4 on Sunday in Monasterevin . Official opening of the new clubhouse there . Expecting a large crowd by all accounts .
Might tip up to it ...What are the flour bags charging in I wonder?
It's €5 in Unlaoised .
That seems a decent price to be fair! :D
There will probably be a decent Laois support there - maybe even more than the usual League attendance. Plenty of local rivalery in that area. Will be interesting to see that match - can't really call it but it's all about getting things right for Wicklow. Kildare have fallen a lot since McGeeney was kicked out. They're like a different team. Just shows what a manager and his set up can do culturally and performance wise.
If we could only draw with Offaly I don't see us giving the Lillys much of a game!
why is that both division 3 teams ::)
(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Cg_exIhW0AIKrYX.jpg)
Bar open....That will suit our lads! :P
HS is reporting that Anthony Cunningham former Galway hurling manager is the new coach with the Laois footballers.
Any confirmation on this.
http://www.kildarenow.com/gaa/captain-doyle-returns-as-kildare-draw-with-laois-at-opening-of-new-monasterevin-gaa-grounds/89571 (http://www.kildarenow.com/gaa/captain-doyle-returns-as-kildare-draw-with-laois-at-opening-of-new-monasterevin-gaa-grounds/89571)
Quote from: OTF on May 01, 2016, 01:38:02 PM
HS is reporting that Anthony Cunningham former Galway hurling manager is the new coach with the Laois footballers.
Any confirmation on this.
If it's true
He or some other COACH should have been brought in before the league started,
Quote from: Donnellys Hollow on May 01, 2016, 07:53:52 PM
http://www.kildarenow.com/gaa/captain-doyle-returns-as-kildare-draw-with-laois-at-opening-of-new-monasterevin-gaa-grounds/89571 (http://www.kildarenow.com/gaa/captain-doyle-returns-as-kildare-draw-with-laois-at-opening-of-new-monasterevin-gaa-grounds/89571)
A road to Damascus moment for Mick.
looking at the kildare forum, and while taking into account their blind hatred of us, it appears the current set up is extremely poor
Fairly meaningless challenge game. It was a completely 2nd string Kildare team with no more than 1 or 2 likely to start against Wexford. I'd say 7 or 8 of the Laois team would be 1st choice but I don't think either team are up to anything. If you can somehow put Cunningham in charge and sideline Lillis you might start heading in the right direction.
Some general thoughts on yesterdays draw.
Very encouraging to see a much improved defensive structure. Much tighter than anything before this year. Much more organisation. An experimental defense in first half with Darren Strong showing good leadership at centre back.
Damien O'Connor at 7 played well and showed a great turn of pace going forward.
Both of the Farrells tried hard.
Thought Paul Cahillane had a fine game at centre forward. A sort of playmaker role, he got on a lot of ball.
Gary Walsh was in fine form, some lovely scores and unlucky not to get a goal hitting the post in 2nd half.
Both teams brought on some of the bigger guns in 2nd half with Quigley and O'Carroll getting game time for Laois and Cribben and Moolick coming in for Kildare. Have to say Cribben got 2 sublime points, great player.
Brody very solid in goals and a clean sheet.
John O'Loughlin powerful in midfield.
A good challenge overall to lead to Wicklow game in 12 days.
Great to hear about Anthony Cunningham joining the set up. Very encouraging.
Feeling much more optimistic about the championship now. Laois ABU
The real question is - how will Anthony Cunningham play a background role with Lillis there - that's like Pep Guardiola hanging around the set up in the background with Steve Staunton in charge.
No offense to lillis but even he knows he's inept - hence the addition of Cunningham.
Cunningham has got real pedigree & he's really a man I can get behind with his CV. Unlikely he can make a significant difference in 2016 when the ground work hasn't properly done but if we don't scare him away, i'd love to see him play a huge role (manager) in 2017. Interesting times ahead.
Interesting times in indeed ..
John O Loughlin and Darren Strong were very good as was cahilanne. ..team looked a lot hungrier
This will have no major effect on our year. It might have done 6 months ago but a fitness guy coming in April is way too late. How on earth should this guy get the Laois job, he is a fitness guru and that makes a difference at club level but county that's a big leap. Let's see if he can somehow spring a miracle this year and then think about the job.
Worrying post from the Kildare website.....
QuotePostSubject: Re: Kildare V Laois Yesterday at 6:06 am
Was stood near both management teams for the match and the difference between them was astonishing at this level. For a start the Kildare management stood together in discussion and there was constant tactical coaching come in from the line to the players with a lot of focus on reminding them they had Morgan back as cover (interestingly). Focus on getting players to come wide when we had possession also and on midfielders (Daryl mainly) dropping back when a wing back went forward. The Laois management meanwhile stood a long way from each other, Lillis hardly a said a word just walked up and down the line with his A4 notebook and another of his selectors (don't know his name) seemed to bark abuse at the players. A lot of effing and blinding when a mistake was made, permanently frustrated with Kingston's lack of effort, and the only coaching was of the "ah for feck sake let it in" variety. Seems Woolberto is spot on..
Having said all that we still couldn't beat them. Primarily because their midfield dominated in the same way Clare did, because they were able to create a couple of goal chances and took one (Kingston) and (sorry to say) because we gave away another hatful of frees for lazy poor tackling.
On the plus side Healy had a decent first half, Morgan did well generally as sweeper and Matty Byrne got through a mountain of work at midfield, while Flynn again was excellent after coming in for the second half. McGrillen was disappointing and I wonder is he going to make the championship cut.
Eanna O'Connor got a few scores and produced some good passes in a decent display.
But it was a generally poor Laois side, no better than what we've been facing in Div 3. Strong around the middle but very little in attack. Kingston looked out of shape and disinterested.
Eoin Doyle looked fit and sprightly when introduced - slotted in around midfield rather than CB. Great to see him back. Might only be a sub for Wexford although you never know with 3 more weeks training.
Feely, Niall K, Fitz, Keith C, Tyrell and Peter K were all not involved which is a bit worrying. Tyrell seemed to be walking ok after his injury last week though. McCormack didn't play.
I think that pretty much sums it up .
Kingston looks nowhere near been fit which is alarming so close to the Wicklow game .
It sounds like the game is up if a proven inter county manager is brought in to be the head coach.
Maybe he will shake things up and whip everyone into shape. What then is Lillis's job? If it's picking the team then he'd be as well off as a selector!
http://www.the42.ie/anthony-cunningham-galway-laois-2747380-May2016/
Can only be a positive thing but it has to dilute Lillis authority .. Good call by whoever made it to get him involved
Quote from: BallyroanAbu on May 02, 2016, 10:51:31 PM
This will have no major effect on our year. It might have done 6 months ago but a fitness guy coming in April is way too late. How on earth should this guy get the Laois job, he is a fitness guru and that makes a difference at club level but county that's a big leap. Let's see if he can somehow spring a miracle this year and then think about the job.
How on earth should he get the job- what? Are you forgetting he has a better record at club level vs Lillis and has inter county experience with Galway hurlers who were in the all-ireland last year? He's vastly more qualified than Lillis and he has a tactical brain and a good man manager. He's a fine all-rounder. You're right about one thing - it's way too late to expect miracles this year. It's ridiculous that we've gone so far back in terms of fitness. The set up sounds inept in 2016, but we'd be lucky to have a man like Cunningham in 2017. Who else will arrest the slide - Lillis seems resigned to the thought that we're not good and are div 3 /4 standard. We just don't need that attitude - this year is predictable already. Win vs Wicklow likely (as they are a worse version of us), 13 men behind the ball against Dublin (as practiced vs Kildare) with our lads scoring less than 12 points and them still getting 20+ points. 0 - 2 wins in the qualifiers depending on who we get but no more than 2 wins. That's 95% chance of what we'll get this year - the setup clearly does not have a good vision and attitude and towards the year. It's a write off, but maybe, just maybe we can get someone decent with aspirations like Cunningham for 2017 in addition to proper underage structure (at least the centre of excellence should be ready by 2018). Otherwise lillis' vision for us will come true - Div 3 or 4 for the next 6 - 8 years at least.
For those who think the only thing to do is to concentrate on underage and forget about the senior set up : you're forgetting - success breeds success and also interest. It's co-dependant. We need the senior team to be one that is performing well and a setup to be proud of - otherwise there's less incentive for youngsters to get involved and to have hopes for future success with Laois at senior level. The opposite is also true : we need a functioning underage setup to breed success at senior. We need a proper vision, really - and it's not too far off common sense: We need the opposite of this year, basically. I play for a lesser club at a Intermediate level and it really sounds like we're miles ahead of the current Laois senior football set up. That's unacceptable.
The involvement of Cunningham has to to an improvement on what's already there, the question is how much influence will he have or be allowed have ??
The qualifiers are 6 weeks away and I think that's where we should be looking ...... if allowed that's enough time for him to get the team set up properly tactically but as others have pointed out the team's fitness is nowhere near where it should be and that is indeed alarming.
The question is-was Cunningham's involvement with the Laois senior team enforced on Lillis or was he open to the idea of bringing in additional help after a poor league campaign and with championship only couple of weeks away. By his own admission in interviews after some league games he was lost for explanations as to our poor/inept performances. The previous posters comments on our management teams actions (lack of cohesion/tactical instructions) was very evident to a number of us who were in attendance on Sunday. We need management that is proactive tactically if plan A is not working or if positional changes need to be made quickly. Hopefully Cunningham can add this to our current set-up (it will be interesting to see how Lillis works alongside Cunningham who for all intensive purposes is a now joint-manager). I was worried from talking to different people that some of the players were already writing this year off. Hopefully this appointment can add some badly needed impetus and even if we do fall to Dublin that we can have a decent campaign through the qualifiers with the goal of reaching a quarter-final.
Quote from: Clubber Lang on May 03, 2016, 04:35:06 PM
The question is-was Cunningham's involvement with the Laois senior team enforced on Lillis or was he open to the idea of bringing in additional help after a poor league campaign and with championship only couple of weeks away. By his own admission in interviews after some league games he was lost for explanations as to our poor/inept performances. The previous posters comments on our management teams actions (lack of cohesion/tactical instructions) was very evident to a number of us who were in attendance on Sunday. We need management that is proactive tactically if plan A is not working or if positional changes need to be made quickly. Hopefully Cunningham can add this to our current set-up (it will be interesting to see how Lillis works alongside Cunningham who for all intensive purposes is a now joint-manager). I was worried from talking to different people that some of the players were already writing this year off. Hopefully this appointment can add some badly needed impetus and even if we do fall to Dublin that we can have a decent campaign through the qualifiers with the goal of reaching a quarter-final.
In his interview after the Derry game he said he didn't believe in defensive football, 13 men behing the ball on Sunday would suggest that romantic notion is now history.
Does anyone recall what style of play does Cunningham favour .
At this point in time I'd say the Wicklow game is at best 50/50
Anthony Cunningham is another in a long list of poor appointments. He is a sticking plaster on what is an unmitigated disaster. He will have absolutely no influence or control on what is a total disaster of a season. The writing is on the wall and there will be no miracle. This is not all Mick Lillis's fault, personally I did not see him being this bad. But we have been working quite hard over the last three years destroying our senior team. Our underage structure is a disaster. I have not got over the U21's yet some talented players but so far behind in conditioning and tactics it was laughable. What is Anthony Cunningham going to do in April to save a championship season what sort of message does it send to young coaches within the county. But I am sure someone is going to say we should all get behind the team. It's simply shambolic we will be beaten by Wicklow and hopefully by then we may realise our situation is that bad than the overall structure of football within the county needs to be looked at.
Cunningham joins the O'Moore County set-up as a coach.
(http://c0.thejournal.ie/media/2016/05/anthony-cunningham-41-390x285.jpg)
http://www.the42.ie/anthony-cunningham-galway-laois-2747380-May2016/ (http://www.the42.ie/anthony-cunningham-galway-laois-2747380-May2016/)
The appointment of Cunningham a few weeks before the championship confirms what a pitiful state we are in . It is clearly a county board appointment , a cry for help and its short term by all accounts .
Lillis is clearly out of his depth in this environment but I don't for a second believe any of this is his fault . He should have never been appointed and put in this position . I shudder to foresee what's going to materalise in Town on Saturday night in a couple of weeks against Wicklow .
All respect to Wicklow, but we'll beat them. We simply have too much talent, even if the setup is not bringing them to their potential this year. We're 1/8 to beat Wicklow - that's the objective betting on Boylesports. So let's not pity ourselves that bad that we're scared of Wicklow. After that, though, not sure if we'll beat many teams. Confidence is low. Am I the only one that thinks, with our raw talent, we should be fighting for an all ireland 1/4 final? I honestly think that if this squad's talent was harnessed correctly, we should be there or thereabouts.
I'm very open to be proven wrong by this years management - but if we do pull off something good this year after everything so far, it will be an achievement of Leicester standards.
Tony I hope your right but I see the writing on the wall. Wicklow hopefully are poor enough that we limp on. But were not that much better than other counties that a shambolic campaign thus far can be altered. We are where we are.
Hoping we loose to Wicklow will certainly not help us as a county...
Yes maybe its a cry for help but its a big name with a superb record and I'm glad Lillis or whoever has realised they need some extra help in the set up.
We will beat Wicklow not taking them or any team for granted but we will have too much for them what can be done between then and Dublin is open to question.
Its alarming that Donie is so far off the pace but he was carrying a niggling injury or so i'm told.
good to see O'connor in defence which is his best position in my opinion!
If Donie is injured what the hell is he doing playing in challenge games. Talk about an amateur set-up.......... :-\
I would have to agree with you Tony, we will look back at the All Ireland quarter finals and see the likes of Kerry, Dublin, Tyrone, Roscommon & Mayo but we will also see two more from the pack, the likes of Fermanagh, Galway, Cavan, Meath etc now there is no doubt we have a squad of players good enough to compete with these teams and once you are at that stage you will have a bit of momentum behind you and who knows where it can take you. We got there under McNulty and if we believed a bit more could have taken the Dubs but never diverted from our game plan. (I was reminded of that game watching Man City playing Real Madrid the other night, losing 1-0 with 15 mins to go they still never really attacked Madrid and had no shoots on target, seemed bizarre, like Laois that day they contained the Dubs for majority of the game and kept it tight but never really threatened Dublin.)
I like the appointment of Cunningham who has a lot of top level experience but he needs to be in charge and not just some advisory nonsense. We see offaly hurlers having Liam Sheedy in an advisory role which seems a bit of a farce. If the two can work together well and good but financially it seems a waste of resources as why are we paying Lillis if he is not up to the job.
To be fair to Lillis, I doubt he is getting much, if anything, after expenses. His ability is suspect but his passion for Laois and his effort without pay, can't be questioned really. I like the addition of Cunningham but it would be much better had it been at start of year. Lillis means very well, in fairness, but he's like your ma when she holds your hand on the way to the local disco, in front of all your friends. Meaning well, but in reality - holding you back and cramping your style.
Quote from: Tony on May 05, 2016, 02:06:26 PM
To be fair to Lillis, I doubt he is getting much, if anything, after expenses. His ability is suspect but his passion for Laois and his effort without pay, can't be questioned really. I like the addition of Cunningham but it would be much better had it been at start of year. Lillis means very well, in fairness, but he's like your ma when she holds your hand on the way to the local disco, in front of all your friends. Meaning well, but in reality - holding you back and cramping your style.
Ha ha thats an unreal last line Tony while not totally out of context either.
I think Mick knew he needed help as he has two very raw selectors as well maybe it was just a case of getting the right man...
I think everyone i the camp is delighted with this and from what I hear Cuningham's has already made a big impression...
With Lillis Passion and knowledge of the players and Cunningham's expertise maybe the summer might not be too bad at all...
KEEP THE FAITH!
Does anyone know who the Laois player referred to in this article was ? ? ?
http://www.balls.ie/gaa/kieran-mcgeeney-offers-grim-prediction-about-where-anti-ulster-bias-might-lead/332588 (http://www.balls.ie/gaa/kieran-mcgeeney-offers-grim-prediction-about-where-anti-ulster-bias-might-lead/332588)
Billy?
Quote from: Junior Ex Laoistalk on May 06, 2016, 08:50:23 PM
Does anyone know who the Laois player referred to in this article was ? ? ?
http://www.balls.ie/gaa/kieran-mcgeeney-offers-grim-prediction-about-where-anti-ulster-bias-might-lead/332588 (http://www.balls.ie/gaa/kieran-mcgeeney-offers-grim-prediction-about-where-anti-ulster-bias-might-lead/332588)
Billy Sheehan. McKeever is a horrible yoke. Wouldn't half give you the "free state bastard" line.
Quote from: SCFC on May 06, 2016, 11:00:33 PM
Quote from: Junior Ex Laoistalk on May 06, 2016, 08:50:23 PM
Does anyone know who the Laois player referred to in this article was ? ? ?
http://www.balls.ie/gaa/kieran-mcgeeney-offers-grim-prediction-about-where-anti-ulster-bias-might-lead/332588 (http://www.balls.ie/gaa/kieran-mcgeeney-offers-grim-prediction-about-where-anti-ulster-bias-might-lead/332588)
Billy Sheehan. McKeever is a horrible yoke. Wouldn't half give you the "free state b**tard" line.
God Save the Queen ?
Surely that didn't happen in OMP
Big week this week. My prediction, with all respect to Wicklow, is that we'll have too much for them. I doubt we'll be comprehensive but 4+ points is my prediction. Will be interesting to see the team named and the match itself - I wonder if our structure will be any different. In a way I hope Wicklow put up a good fight as we certainly can't be anything other than sharp agains't the dubs, IF we come through Wicklow.
Seems we played blanket defence against Kildare according to one of the reports. Better late than never I suppose.
Getting over Wicklow by a few points playing with a blanket defence might be the best preparation for Dublin . Playing one system against Wicklow and different one against will do this team no favours . Make no mistake there won't be much in this Saturday evening . Laois haven't become super fit in the space of a few weeks .
Realistically hoping to get over Wicklow and an encouraging display against Dublin is much as we can hope for in my opinion .
No team should be disrespected by us, particularly given the way that we have been playing this year.
The fact is that Wicklow came 5th in Division 4 this year with an almost identical record to Carlow (Carlow came ahead of them with a slightly better scoring difference). We came bottom of Division 2 with a terrible mix of half-decent and awful performances.
Saturday's match will tell us a lot about this team I think. Their mental preparations for playing Wicklow should be the same as for playing Dublin in Croke Park but I have a feeling they won't be. Having a strong defensive system (it'll be interesting to see if they have) doesn't necessarily imply that we can't win by a decent margin. It's not either/or.
If the mentality going into this match is right, we should win comfortably (bookies are 1/8). If not, it could be another Antrim.
Johnny Magee night not be the master tactician but he will have a Wicklow fired up Saturday evening . Hopefully the players won't take anything for granted . We really don't want another Antrim scenario .
See, people seem to think it's either blanket defence or 15 vs 15. Would it blow your mind if you realised Dublin, Kerry, Mayo etc do NOT play 15 vs 15 but also DO NOT play blanket defence. They have a smart, organised, co-ordinated system where people are adaptable, players are tracked and counter - attacks with speed are key. It's what McNulty was trying to do but it was in it's infancy / the players were not good enough / familiar enough with it at the time. It'll be interesting to see what Cunningham can do.
Went to tickets.ie to get tickets for Saturday and I see the tickets are allocated to seat numbers.?? I didn't know we had numbered seats in O'Moore Park or is this a mistake?
They're numbered alright.
Fully agree with Tony's comments. It can't be beyond our wit to develop a system of play that allows us to be tight and aggressive when we don't have the ball and creative when we have it.
The above comments are totally justified but implementing a system like that takes time and needs to worked on during the league for example . I'm sure it's not beyond us to adapt a system like stated above but maybe working on our fitness first should be prioritised before we go down that road .
I believe Cunningham will bring a degree of professionalism to the set up which was sadly lacking during the league . For example the warm up in Enniskillen in the league was pathetic .
Saying that there looked to be of a structure in place last week in Monastrevin .
I don't think anyone is advocating 15-men-back blanket defence. I for one am just glad they are even thinking about a system. Way way too late though to be adding structure in May. We would be sitting pretty in division 2 next year and be much better prepared for the championship had we being honing a system starting at the Galway game. As McNulty showed, it takes years to get a system to work, certainly not weeks.
I wonder what McNulty makes of all this. He was developing a system that would allow Laois compete with the top teams in country (promotion to Division 1,beating Monaghan and challenging Donegal and Dublin) and we ditch him. Couple of years later and having taken two or three significant steps backwards (losing to Antrim and relegation to Division 3) we, with couple weeks to go to start of championship try to re-introduce a game plan that takes months if not years to properly implement (the same one McNulty was developing). I really feel the last number of years have been badly wasted with what is a decent panel of players.
McNulty had to go because of all the pressure that was put on him to go. Apparently "people weren't showing up to games because of the style" (but that proves to be nonsense because there are the same or less people showing up to games nowadays with a more traditional style). Significant figures in the media (ahhhemmmm cough splutter Jack Nolan and Co) wanted him out and idiots with no foresight and a football brain suited to the 1970's also wanted him out.
In hindsight, his system did need to be adjusted : we simply were not scoring enough. Too many people behind the ball and ridiculous player usage at times. Still, our conditioning, strenght and fitness was on a par with Division 1. We got to 1/4 final and also ran Donegal close in the 4th round of qualifiers. McNulty was always going to go, but i feel that should our way of competing : getting to a top level of fitness and having a good managerial set up. We seem way behind in terms of conditioning in 2016 and regarding competing with the top level, well, people seem to have said "to hell with it, who cares."
Unfortunately, it seems we've just become like an Offaly, Westmeath, Longford type setup this year. Just going through the motions. There's really no reason why we can't be like a Roscommon or Cavan. Here's hoping a group of folks with the necessary authority care enough about Laois football to make a concerted effort for positive change, starting now, for 2017. Cunningham certainly is a positive move.
Cunningham is certainly a positive move . It's just disappointing it's taken so long for the county board to realise a coach of his calibre was needed . He's not a miracle worker and I do hope he can commit to Laois set -up regardless who is in charge next year .